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G47: Oilers @ Jets - Balancing Players |
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Tonight is the last time during the regular season that Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers will face off against the Winnipeg Jets but likely not for the last time this year as it seems almost inevitable that these two teams will face off in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
McDavid has absolutely feasted on the Jets this season. To put it into perspective, McDavid has the most points this season against the Ottawa Senators. In 9 games against the Sens, McDavid has 4 goals, 17 assists, and 21 points. Currently in 8 games against the Jets, a far better team, McDavid has 7 goals and 12 assists. Will he surpass that tonight? The odds certainly seem in his favor as McDavid continues to draw closer to a 100 point season in a 56 game campaign. It's ridiculous how good he is.
In the same game that McDavid put up a hat-trick, the 9th of his career, Leon Draisaitl become the highest scoring German player of all time with 488 points, passing Marco Sturm. Sturm produced that number in 938 games, it only took Leon 468 games. German hockey continues to improve with Leon as the name every kid is going to be looking up to. It was great to see.
Both of these players are having incredible seasons and could easily add another 15-20 points apiece in their remaining games. The question will be if Tippett lowers their minutes or downright sits them in a couple games leading up to the playoffs to make sure they are well rested and fully healthy. With that I also expect we will see the likes of Evan Bouchard in the lineup just to get them into game shape should they need to fill in for an injury.
OILERS LINE COMBINATIONS
Kahun – McDavid – Puljujarvi
RNH – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Shore – McLeod – Archibald
Neal – Haas – Chiasson
Nurse – Barrie
Kulikov – Larsson
Jones – Bear
Smith
JETS LINE COMBINATIONS
Copp-Scheifele-Appleton
Connor-Dubois-Wheeler
Vesalainen-Stastny-Perrault
Harkins-THompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Benn-Demelo
Hellebuyck
4 GAME THOUGHTS
1.) Stay in His Head - Connor Hellebuyck, the Vezina winner from last season has had an impressive season. He has a 0.917SV% against every team in the North Division... except against the Oilers who he has a 0.870SV% against. The Oilers have had his number over this year and prior years as well. Scoring an early goal against him tonight should keep him second guessing himself.
2.) Challenge McLeod - I thought Ryan McLeod had a simple and effective first NHL game. The coach didn't have to try and protect him much and I think we see him get an even bigger push tonight. If McLeod is going to be part of this roster for the rest of the season he needs to match up against the Jets top guys.
3.) Kick Them While They Are Down - The Jets are on their first 3 game losing streak of the season after their last loss to the Oilers. Winnipeg has been a consistent team all season but have struggled lately and the most recent injury to Ehlers really hurts their top six. Edmonton played a great game against Montreal then let up a bit in their second game. They cannot afford to do that against the Jets.
4.) Norris Nurse - As expected Nurse cooled off a bit in the goals department but still finds himself in second in the NHL in goals among all defensemen with 14, two fewer than Jakob Chcychurn. Nurse absolutely deserves to be in the conversation and it will be fun to watch as we approach the end of the regular season.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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