Follow @SMaloughney Every team has an opponent or two they struggle to win against. Over the past few seasons for the Edmonton Oilers, that team has been Nashville. Edmonton hasn't won against the Predators since 2014 where they swept the season series.
To make matters worse Edmonton will also be facing off against Juuse Saros tonight. Saros has played two games against the Oilers in his career stopping 77 of 77 shots. Edmonton has played some decent hockey as of late but they have yet to figure out this netminder. The team may have to count on their own goaltender to steal some points for them.
The goaltender tonight is Mikko Koskinen... who played his last regular season NHL game February 13th 2011 against the Buffalo Sabres. In that game he was pulled after allowing 4 goals on 14 shots.
LINEUPS
OILERS
RNH-McDavid-Yamamoto Rieder-Draisaitl-Chiasson Lucic-Strome-Caggiula Khiara-Brodziak-Kassian
Klefbom-Larsson Nurse-Russell Garrison-Benning
Koskinen
No word yet on line changes. McLellan typically won't change the lineup after a win so we will have to wait and see if Puljujarvi or Kassian will draw back in. Chiasson scored a goal last game but overall I felt he didn't do much to help the play on that line. Let's see if Todd agrees with me.
UPDATE
Puljujarvi still sits but Kassian plays... also Gravel-Bouchard is being swapped for Garrison-Benning... this should work well.
PREDATORS
Forsberg-Johansen-Arvidsson Grimaldi-Turris-Smith Jarnkrok-Sissons-Fiala Rinaldo-Bonino-Hartman
Josi-Ellis Ekholm-Subban Bitetto-Weber
Saros
4 KEYS TO VICTORY
1) Score. My brilliant key to victory... if the Oilers can score more goals than the Nashville Predators the rules state that means Edmonton wins. Considering Saros has two shutouts against Edmonton I feel I need to remind the team of this obscure rule. 2) Help Koskinen. This will be a difficult assignment for the Oilers defence. Not only do they need to defend against one of the better teams in the Western Conference but they also need to be mindful of helping out their netminder. Koskinen hasn't seen game action since pre-season and as I mentioned...hasn't played a real NHL game in years. The D need to limit the early high danger chances and give Mikko time to get into a rhythm. 3) More Secondary. Part of the reason the Predators are so good is their top 4 in any combination can rival most teams top 2. McDavid is going to be hard-pressed to find much open ice today. The third line in particular has done a good job over the past few games creating some chances but have yet to hit the twine. 4) Start The Game On Time. One big issue Edmonton had on their road trip was starting their games poor and using the second and third periods to play catch-up. Early games have never been the Oilers specialty but they cannot afford to start sluggish against this team.
FILM OF THE DAY
Prior games suggest that if Edmonton wins today it will be on a brilliant goaltending performace or a one goal victory. It doesn't matter how the team does it as long as they get two points. Finding ways to win is exactly what happened in this poker game from the classic 1970's caper film The Sting. Robert Redford and Paul Newman at their best.