Follow @SMaloughney What happened last season doesn't matter anymore. The decade of losing doesn't matter. The Taylor Hall trade... the Game 7 loss to the Ducks, Kris Russel and his starfishing, Koskinen's glove hand.... none of that matters. Tonight represents a fresh start for everyone; it's a "what have you done for me lately" league and every player on this roster starts tonight on the same level.
The regular season isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. Take a couple deep breaths with me and let's run through this thing together.
Quick side note:
Thank you to all of you who have been reading my content throughout last season and the summer. It's been great to have you all aboard and I look forward to being your go to source anytime you want to chat Oilers. Be sure to give me a follow @SMaloughney on Twitter. I'm always open to shooting the breeze and answering questions anyone has about a variety of topics.
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A couple of recent injuries have shaken things up for the opening night roster. Tomas Jurco, who propelled himself up the lineup into a top 6 position underwent a medical procedure yesterday and will be unavailable for today. He could return to the lineup as early as Saturday versus the Kings.
Sheahan is in concussion protocol and is out for 7-10 days so the earliest we will see him is Tuesday on the road against the Islanders. That could be the same case for Joel Persson who had a shoulder problem earlier during the pre-season.
Tonight the Edmonton Oilers open up against the Vancouver Canucks. Both of these teams will likely be battling each other all season for a Wild Card position and both teams are relying on young high end forwards to propel them into the post season. It should make for an exciting opener.
On that note, the Edmonton Oilers are 20-14-4 in season openers. Let's make it 21.
OILERS LINEUP Nygard-McDavid-Neal Draisaitl-RNH-Kassian Granlund-Haas-Chiasson Khaira-Cave-Archibald
Nurse-Larsson Klefbom-Bear Russel-Benning
Smith
- Over the past few practice days, Tippett had the three centres of Nuge, Draisaitl, and McDavid all on their own lines. There simply aren't enough wingers to generate offense throughout the lineup by splitting these players up. - Instead of pairing the tried and tested Draisaitl and McDavid, instead we will see how RNH and Drai fair together. Last season, Draisaitl and RNH only played 118:27 together at even strength. - Tippett is hoping the speed of Nygard and shooting ability of Neal will be enough of a compliment to McDavid that the Edmonton Oilers will have two scoring lines. We will find out if that is the case and how quickly he reverts to Draisaitl and McDavid together.
CANUCKS LINEUP Ferland-Pettersson-Boeser Pearson-Horvat-Miller Leivo-Sutter-Virtanen Schaller-Beagle-Eriksson
Edler-Myers Hughes-Tanev Benn-Stecher
Markstrom
Sven Baertschi and Nikolay Goldobin cleared waivers for the Canucks, setting this up as the likely opening roster for Vancouver.
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EDMONTON PLAYER SPOTLIGHT - CONNOR MCDAVID
Of course the captain of the Edmonton Oilers and the best player in the National Hockey League is going to be my selection for the first Player Spotlight of the season. McDavid has shown us in the pre-season that he is healthy and ready to produce another 100+ point season. As always, I'm expecting exciting things from #97.
CANUCKS PLAYER SPOTLIGHT - ELIAS PETTERSSON The young Elias is going to have to get used to hearing the phrase sophomore slump for at least the next month or more, depending on how he fares. The story is always the same; a player entering his second year is no longer overlooked by the opposition and suddenly he has a tougher time scoring goals. Pettersson is a brilliant young player and I don't expect a slump from him at all.... although if he did tonight that would be great. 3 KEYS TO VICTORY
Nervous Energy - Regardless if you are a ten year veteran or a brand new player, the first 10 minutes of action in the first game are always a shaky affair. The roar of the crowd and the jump in intensity from the pre-season can effect even the saviest of players. Whether you are Leon Draisaitl or Ethan Bear, Edmonton needs to harness that crowd energy early, and score that first crucial goal.
Starter Smith - Start the timer on how long Mike Smith will be the starting goaltender for the Edmonton Oilers. Both goalies performed decently through September, but Tippett is going with the guy he knows better in Mike Smith to start for Edmonton. If Smith wants the start on Saturday, he is going to have to play well tonight. Shut Up The Old Narratives - Last season some things seemed constant; that Edmonton would allow the first goal on the first shot against, that our PK would be bad, and the team would be dominated for most of the second period. Edmonton needs to prevent the "here we go again" headlines and tighten up under the new systems.
FILM OF THE DAY
My own excitement that hockey is back will begin the moment the teams step out onto the ice for the pre game skate. There likely won't be any shenanigans like this scene from Slap Shot but the Oilers need to play with as much intensity as these guys bring.