It's about time.
Plenty of hockey has been played over the past few days with Oilers players obviously anxious to get started themselves. Despite pretending not to, players listen to the media, they read what is said about them online and what everyone says about the Oilers is that they will be in tough to make the playoffs this season.
Last year Vegas had the Oilers as 10-1 Stanley Cup favorites.... they are nobody's favorite this year. The team is fired up to prove their naysayers wrong and this morning (night over in Sweden) they get their first chance to execute on that.
LINEUPS
OILERS
RNH-McDavid-Rattie Lucic-Draisaitl-Yamamoto Khaira-Strome-Puljujarvi Rieder-Brodziak-Kassian
Klefbom-Larsson Nurse-Benning Russell-Bouchard
Talbot
DEVILS
Hall-Hischier-Palmieri Johansson-Zacha-Noesen Wood-Zajac-Quenneville Boyle-Coleman-Dea
Mueller-Vatanen Greene-Severson Butcher-Lovejoy
Kinkaid
Rieder who was brought in to play in the top 9 starts the season on the fourth line however that is not a knock against him. Rieder looked stronger as the pre-season went on but right now Puljujarvi and Yamamoto earned the higher spots. Pre-season made it appear as though the Oilers wing depth was not an issue...regular season could be a different breed.
Kris Russel draws back into the lineup and starts the season with Evan Bouchard. This morning the Oilers made a paper transaction to send Ethan Bear to the Condors. Management wants to see what they have in Bouchard before making a decision.
On the other side Cory Schneider is still battling injury and Kinkaid will start. Jesper Bratt, born in Sweden took a puck in the face in practice and sadly will not be able to play in front of his home crowd.
3 KEYS TO VICTORY
1) Hart On Hart. The most discussed matchup today is Connor McDavid going up against Taylor Hall...man wouldn't it be great to have two players like this on a roster....can you even imagine? The Devils are the home team meaning they get the ability to put Taylor Hall up against more favorable matchups. Evan Bouchard is going to have his work cut out for him for his first NHL game.
2) Relax. It is opening night. For some players it is their first NHL game. The first 10 minutes of this game will be key. The Oilers need to shake their nerves out as quickly as possible and try to capitalize against a team who will be trying to do the same.
3) Test Kinkaid. Kinkaid did well last season when Schneider fell apart but he has shown over his career to be a fairly streaky goaltender. The Oilers need to not only generate shots but put him into awkward positions and not allow him time to get into a rhythm. Too often last year we saw the Oilers generate most of their shots from the perimeter. Get in close.
MOVIE OF THE DAY For one extra fact about me, I'm a big movie buff. On Game Days I'm going to post a clip, trailer, or something from a movie that relates to the game.
It is the start of a new season and as of right now everything is optimistic and hopeful... we will see how long that lasts but in the meantime I present a bright and happy scene from What Dreams May Come