Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

The battle of the depleted lineups was amusing. Winnipeg didn’t have Josh Morrissey or Connor Hellebuyck playing last night, just for Playoff resting reasons. But they do have injuries to Gabriel Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers. And now, Dylan Samberg is bound to miss time due to leaving the game after blocking a slap shot. Adam Henrique scored a goal moments later, though it’s hard to cheer for that when you’re concerned about a player lying on the ice. Here’s hoping Samberg heals up okay; the close-up of his face after that block is never easy to look at.

I only got the Jets broadcast feed here in Toronto. But someone tweeted a quote from Jack Michaels saying “77 years of experience hooking up,” referencing Derek Ryan’s feed to Corey Perry on the insurance goal late in the third period. The fountain of youth is getting wider for Perry’s offense, Viktor Arvidsson has five goals in his last eight games, and Connor Brown has five goals in his last six games. While the injury bug has plagued Edmonton at the worst possible time, their secondary scoring is making waves at the best possible time.

Stuart Skinner was back in action for the first time since his concussion against Dallas on March 26th. I didn’t really like the lone goal he allowed, but he was fine the rest of the night, and that’s all we ask for. As the Oilers outplayed the home team, he didn’t have to be overwhelmed in his return. That sort of build-up with limiting shots now might be good for his confidence before he should be expected to face more chances again. They’ve also scored an empty net goal in two consecutive games, who’d have thought?

Before the game, the Europe/NCAA signing trend continued. This time with a 26-year-old left-shooting defenseman, Atro Leppanen. He put up 63 points through 60 games for Sport Vaasa of Finland’s SM Liiga. I read that production was an all-time record for any defenseman in that league. It sounds like another good signing, so let’s see how it pans out in a couple of years.

Tonight is the last home game of the regular season for Edmonton before ticket sales for the Playoffs skyrocket. Vegas clinched the Pacific Division title, which means tonight is also a Round 1 preview between the Oilers and Kings (sigh) again. The keys to the game are…

Edmonton Oilers Notes:

Seating Helps: L.A. has the best home record in the league this season. Edmonton being 8th best on the road is pretty good, but still doesn’t sound as appealing. In reverse, the Oilers are 13th at home while the Kings are 22nd on the road. Get 2 points tonight against a tough opponent, another two against an easier opponent on Wednesday, and that might be our last crack at home ice advantage, depending on what happens in LA’s remaining two games afterwards.

Rinse And Repeat: So I’ve said in a couple of articles before this one that the Oilers have been scoring more goals around the net. This comes after the perimeter hockey being played at Crypto.com Arena was a sore spot. Remember the faults in your last meeting against this team, and what you’ve been doing since.

Pick Your Spots: With Skinner getting the start yesterday, Calvin Pickard is in tonight. I don’t know if it’s premature to assume that he’d be the starter in the first round, but familiarity and a groove don’t hurt. What I would assume is Darcy Kuemper getting the start for LA before starting someone else tomorrow in their back-to-back. If Kris Knoblauch is thinking about going with Pickard in Game 1, make tonight a good audition. If the Kings really do clinch a Game 7 opportunity at home, remember that Picks is 11-3 on the road this season.