Oilers Pipeline Fueling Red Hot Start
The young, the old, and...the young again.
That about sums up how the Oilers are doing business this season.
With youthful exuberance spreading to the likes of Ryan Smyth and Nikolai Khabibulin, in the blink of an eye, Edmonton's super trio of Jordan Eberle, Taylor and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have the Oilers playing like a Oil of old.
Winning hockey games with tight play, spectacular passing and incredible goaltending, the Oilers are reaping the rewards of dwelling in the NHL cellar for the past few seasons.
Thanks to those struggles, the franchise is now looking forward to some good years ahead of them, starting with this one.
Believe it or not, the Oilers best players have been their youngest and oldest, specifically, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nikolai Khabibulin.
The 2011 first overall pick and the goaltender who was old enough to drink when the former was born(not that folks encourage Nicky to do that anymore...) have formed a book-end for what is amounting to some very positive early success.
Nugent-Hopkins made sure to avoid any thoughts about being sent back to Juniors as he leads the Oilers in scoring with 12 points in 13 games and Nikolai Khabibulin is on fire as he leads all NHL goaltenders with a 0.98 GAA as Edmonton boasts the fewest goals allowed(22).
This all spells challenge for the Canadiens as, although they suffered a setback in New York through forces greater than their own, the Habs can still pick up their 5th win in 6 games with a strong performance tonight.
In Montreal, the Canadiens lineup has yet to find its identity thanks to the constant turnover of injured players. This time around the question mark is named Andrei Kostitsyn as his status is undetermined for tonight.
On the flip side, as is always the case these days in Montreal, the Habs will have no choice but to lead with their strongest foot forward, Carey Price.
Although Price's record sits at .500 and his save percentage only a shade above .900 (.904), the reality is that he has been left out to dry on quite a few nights this year, but is playing some extraordinary hockey.
He could certainly go to see his defensive unit settle down as many of the untimely goals against the Canadiens have come through breakdowns in their own zone or on their own side of the redline (
though Josh Gorges is doing his best to counter that). Because of this, the Habs are currently sitting with more goals against(36) than goals for(34). Though a small margin, it is a sign that the offense and defense are performing on an alternating basis.
They are dominant, playing hard against their opponents with great consistency, but with the intensity is wavering.
After Montreal's up-and-down October, which saw Perry Pearn wind up dismissed due to early struggles,
the team played far more like the club appears on paper, but they still have a long way to go.
The Habs are still in a fragile state and while there's much to look forward to in the form of many healthy returns to numerous Canadiens players, the truth is that they still need to build confidence.
In order to do that, they're going to need to breakout that explosive offense of theirs and stick with their speed.
The Oilers are clearly keen on doing the same thing, so ultimately this will be a battle of whose blueline will break first?
Given that Edmonton is about as stingy in sharing their net with opponents as the gas companies are at dishing out fair prices, the Habs are obviously going to need to tap their own well of offense tonight to break the Oilers and the 'Bulin' wall.
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