The Oilers came back from a 3-0 deficit to rally in Overtime for a 4-3 win against the Jets yesterday evening. It's a game the Oilers on paper should have lost. They didn't have their top two centres, 4 of their top 6 defenders, and played their backup goaltender. Still, the club managed to come back when all seemed lost, improving their preseason record to 4-0.
Preseason records mean almost nothing moving forward, but it's nice to see the team experience something positive. One thing I'm sure McLellan would like to see would be for their Power Play to get much more effective. They were a pathetic 1/8 against the Jets yesterday. That was a huge reason why they had to claw their way back in the game.
The Jets had the edge in possession all night long. The Oilers only had a 45% Corsi percentage at even strength but a few players ended the night at or above 50% against an experienced Jets lineup. Sekera & Davidson finished above 50% and both Yakupov & Hall finished at 50% CF.
The club will take on the Wild early tonight in Saskatoon. The Oilers have been developing a fanbase in Saskatchewan for a while but it's been helped along by having Saskatchewan's provincial mascot Jordan Eberle on the roster and of course Head Coach Todd McLellan aboard won't hurt either.
The Wild have sent a scrub-squad to the game as it won't feature the majority of their best players. Meanwhile, it seems the Oilers are going to play McDavid and their entire top line. Fans in Saskatoon should be excited to see the McDavidian one.
LINEUP
Nobody has confirmed the lineup for Saskatoon just yet. I'm going on some assumptions but I will fill in the blanks as soon as I can.
Pouliot RNH Eberle Slepyshev McDavid Draisaitl Klinkhammer Letestu Hendricks Lander Miller Pitlick
Klefbom Schultz Reinhart (?) Gryba Nurse LaLeggia
Nilsson
I think these are the forwards but haven't actually seen the lines. As such the combinations are just a guess.
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Dangerous Power Plays. The team simply has to be better on the PP. the good news is that Eberle, Nuge, and McDavid are all key members of an effective Oiler man-advantage. Last season RNH had a terrible time producing 5v4 but before then he was a Wizard. McLellan needs to get him back to being a killer.
2) Nilsson's turn. A couple of the goals against him Scrivens didn't have a chance on and he eventually earned a W, but there's still a chance for Nilsson to make a statement. He was perfect in the half game he played against the Flames. Building on that here will make cutting him infinitely more difficult for the Oilers. With a limited number of games to show their stuff, the first one of Nilsson or Scrivens to stumble could find himself out of the running.
3) Building. Assuming Schultz is playing, he needs to keep building on the way he's played this preseason. He says he worked on his strength/power this offseason. It shows in his confidence so far. I was blown away by how aggressive he was (comparatively) in the last game he played. He doesn't need to beat anybody up, but if he can stay engaged in his own zone it will make a world of difference.
Puck drops tonight at 4 PM Mountain Time on the Oilers Website. Game On!
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