Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

It’s my job to talk hockey, but before I do, I hope the fan who had the medical emergency at Saturday night’s game is healing okay. It happened just 1:15 into the first period, and not having a commercial break while the medical staff was working on it made it scarier for the viewers. The Battle of Alberta is always a much-anticipated outing, but there are still more important things in life. All of Oil Country sends its thoughts, prayers, and well wishes to them and their family.

It’s certainly nice to have Leon Draisaitl back. 2 goals and an assist sounds like a decent return if you ask me. He’s the first 50-goal scorer this season, and his 51st goal set a new(for now) NHL record for most Overtime goals in a regular season. There was a five-way tie for first between Steven Stamkos(2011/12), Jonathan Toews(2015/16), Alex Galchenyuk(2016/17), Brad Marchand(2017/18) and Sebastian Aho(this season) each with 5. Aho can still tie Draisaitl or pass him within the nine games left for Carolina. But Leon can enjoy this milestone for as long as he can. You tend to wonder if any player is returning to the lineup sooner than they probably should. But a part of me suspected that Draisaitl would want to return for this one game. Although I was concerned that he might be returning too early, star players never want to turn down a game against their biggest rivals. It’s a shame Edmonton and Calgary only had three games against each other this season. I’ll say the exact same thing I said in 2022/23. Why Bettman, why?

The 2 Mutts Hockey Podcast on Twitter reported that Edmonton is looking at April 9th against the St. Louis Blues as a possible return date for Connor McDavid. Kris Knoblauch told the media yesterday that neither Stuart Skinner nor Mattias Ekholm will start this four game road trip, but could join later on. Calvin Pickard will be the #1 goalie for a week, and they might be giving Olivier Rodrigue the start on Thursday in San Jose. If the Oilers were closer to first place in the Pacific Division, even though tonight is still important, I’d call this last meeting against the Golden Knights more crucial. A win tonight on the road could still be something to build off of if these teams were to meet in the second round. The keys to the game are…

Edmonton Oilers Thoughts

Keep Playing: The last time these teams played each other, our team nearly blew a 5-0 lead before winning 6-3. Not that I think we’ll have as good an outing again, but I’ve never cared for having a code of “not running the score”. It’s that sort of mentality that gives the opposition momentum back in their favour if they have one good shift or if you have one bad shift. Until the 60th minute has passed, you play to win the game.

Careful Plays: The game referenced in the first key was one of Stu’s better performances in net this season, but he decided to play the puck out of his crease on the third goal he allowed. In the meeting before that, Draisaitl attempted a careless no-look pass to the blue line that was turned over, resulting in the Knights going the other way and scoring a goal that you would’ve liked Stu to stop. Darnell and Evan Bouchard deserve full marks for the plays they made leading up to the tying goal on Saturday, but just be mindful of what’s happening on the ice.

Road Cal: As previously mentioned, Pickard is briefly taking over the starter’s net. He has 18 wins on the season, 11 of them were as the visiting goalie. That being said, even though his last road loss last week wasn’t his fault, his stats would like to have it back. Vegas has 27 wins at home, currently sporting a six game winning streak and more than likely to win the division now. Starting a four game road trip, Picks will get a good test in his newly elevated duties.