This five game road trip is the Oilers longest of the season (there is a second five game road trip in early January). Long road trips like this can be daunting for any team but so far it's (mostly) been just another day at the office for the Edmonton Oilers.
Edmonton picked up dominant wins against both the Sharks and Golden Knights, outscoring both teams by a total of 9-4. Despite the SO finish, Edmonton controlled play for most of the game against Arizona, save for a horrible 5 minute gap in the second period. Even so they were able to tie the game late and come away with the two points.
One black mark exists on this road trip and that was the game against the LA Kings. Some people were suggesting that the Kings would be easy, or an automatic win game because of their place in the standings, in this writer's opinion that is pure bologna.
Parity is stronger than ever in the league and the Oilers aren't an elite team yet. They need to walk into every game with the same hard work attitude and not think they can take any opponent lightly.
Tonight Edmonton plays a Colorado team that is still plagued by injuries. Regardless of that fact, Edmonton needs to treat the Avs like a massive threat and push hard to try and walk away from this road trip 4-1.
Gagner received a tremendous opportunity last game against to 'Yotes being tasked with centering the second line with RNH out. He responded by being engaged on both sides of the puck all night and a primary assist on the Chiasson goal. While he has only played in 10 games this season for Edmonton, Gagner's 4 points puts him 6th among forwards in points-per-game. RNH should be back for the Saturday game so Gagner needs to believe he is a top 6 forward for just one more game.
AVALANCHE PLAYER PROFILE - ANDREI BURAKOVSKY
Burakovsky was one of those playerse you would always see on the NHL's "Breakout Candidate" lists but for the past few seasons in Washington the forward seemed to stagnant as a 25-30 point producer. The youngster is only 22 and now in his 5th season in the NHL we are starting to see him become the player many expected him to be. With injuries in Colorado, Burakovsky is making the most of his top line minutes with MacKinnon as he is second on the team in goals. Last time he faced Edmonton he scored 2 goals. Watch out for the kid.
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3 KEYS TO VICTORY
1.) A Motivated Grubauer - Colorado played their last game on Saturday, where they lost 5-3 to the Leafs. Grubauer was pulled from that game after allowing four goals on 15 shots in the first period. Grubs is 1-4-1 in his past 6 starts. Last time Edmonton played Colorado they lit up the young Werner but the Avs' starter hasn't faired much better as of late. Edmonton needs to challenge early and not allow him to right the ship tonight.
2.) Missing Players Abound - As I already touched on a bit, both teams are dealing with some personel out of the lineup. RNH will be out one more game with a hand injury, making the Oilers centres tonight McDavid, Gagner, Sheahan, Haas. Pretty ugly.
Not only are Rantanen and Landeskog still out of the lineup, but Erik Johnson will also be out. Colorado has had to deal with top players being out for some time while this is a first for Edmonton this season.
3.) Fans...Who Needs Them? - Edmonton is 7-2-2 this season at home which is good for 7th best in the league but what is more impressive is the 2nd best road record of 9-5-1. Colorado meanwhile is the 24th best team at home this season. Away games don't seem to phase this Oilers team right now.
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FILM OF THE DAY
Not everything in life should be easy. Some movies are difficult to understand after watching them for the first time, with audience members confused on what they just watched. An example of that the general public can relate to was when the credits rolled on Christopher Nolan's Inception. SPOILERS AHEAD
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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