In case my Film of The Day posts haven't made it abundantly clear; I am a major film buff. One things that is usually, but not always true is that the first movie is usually better than the sequel. This weekend the Edmonton Oilers play back to back games against the same team; a team that is also fighting to be a top 3 team in the Pacific Division. For the Oilers sake, they need to hope both the original and the sequel are going to be enjoyable for them.
Edmonton received a dominant performance from Mikko Koskinen against the Avalanche but eventually some sloppy play, combined with some extremely suspect calls put a L in the books for Edmonton. Statistically the Oilers have been strong this year, rebounding after poor games.
Back in October I spoke about how a strong October doesn't guarantee a trip to the playoffs and one need not look past the Canucks to see that is true. After going 8-3-1 in October, the Canucks have tripped in November with a 4-7-3 record. Their most recent loss came against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who scored 6 goals in the third period. You can bet Travis Green chewed his team out after that performance and will expect a much more disciplined group tonight.
LINEUP
- Ryan Nugent Hopkins will be out longer than expected and will not play in either game this weekend.
CANUCKS
Pearson – Horvat – Boeser
Miller – Pettersson – Goldobin
Leivo – Gaudette – Virtanen
Schaller – Graovac – MacEwan
Edler – Stecher
Hughes – Myers
Benn – Tanev
Markstrom
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OILERS PLAYER PROFILE - ETHAN BEAR
It's been a little while since I've talked about how good Ethan Bear is. At some point quickly, we need to discuss more the merits of locking Bear up to a long term deal, in the similar vein of Oscar Klefbom. A 7 year 4.5 million dollar deal for Bear would be money very well spent.
CANUCKS PLAYER PROFILE - J.T. MILLER
The Canucks acquired J.T. Miller in the summer because they were looking for another experienced top 6 winger. At 5.25 million per season there were questions on whether he would be as productive when away from the Lightning's brilliant forwards. Miller right now is on pace to have his best season yet with 26 points through 26 games, including 4 goals in his last 5 games.
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3 KEYS TO VICTORY
1.) Not To Whine About The Refs But... - Edmonton got hosed against the Avalanche. Seeing call after call against McDavid go unnoticed is one thing but a 5 minute major for what should have been a two minute penalty? Going by the numbers, tonight won't be much better as the Canucks have the most power play opportunities in the league with 105.
How many do the Oilers, who have skilled fast players like McDavid and Draisaitl that the opposition always has to hook or trip to keep down? Edmonton sits 26th in the league with 75.
2.) Likely Another Track Meet - The last 10 times the Canucks and Oilers have played each other, all but one game has had at least 5 goals (the exception being a 2-0 Oilers win). The Canucks when they are rolling are a dangerous dynamic team, but when they make mistakes other teams can capitalize quickly. Edmonton was too loose against the Avs and it cost them. We're going to see a quick game but the Oil need to be the more disciplined team.
3.) Still Without Nuge - Being without Nuge for the next couple games is definitely a massive loss, as Edmonton is really without any kind of suitable replacement for him. These next two games should be telling for Holland how much this team needs a real third line centre as well as how vital Nuge is to the long term future of this team.
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FILM OF THE DAY
Considering the talk about movies and how the original is far better than the sequels, I had plenty of options to choose from today. The answer was simple... literally any Disney movie ever. So enjoy this clip from Aladdin.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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