Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

G32: Oilers @ Jets - Jones Debuts UPDATE No He Isn't

December 13, 2018, 11:39 AM ET [167 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT

Last time the Oilers played the Jets feels like an entire season ago; Todd McLellan was the coach, Talbot was the undoubted starter, and Rattie was playing on the top line. Edmonton was down 4-1 going into the third, but were able to tie the game in dramatic fashion and put the icing on the cake with a Darnell Nurse overtime goal.

With Klefbom out of the lineup, the Oil might need similar heroics from Darnell Nurse.

When the Oilers last won against the Jets, it was the second win on what would become a three game winning streak, in which they won against the Rangers, Jets, and Bruins. Since then the team has had two more three game winning streaks, and are currently on their best streak of the season.

Capitals, Predators, Blackhawks
Stars, Kings, Golden Knights
Blues, Wild, Flames, Avalanche, ?

---

Over the past 10 games, the Oilers and Jets have very similar records; Edmonton is 7-2-1 while the Jets are 7-3-0. Make no mistake, the Jets are a very good team, however their competition over the last 10 games has been less challenging than Edmonton's.

Here are the current standings position of the teams Winnipeg has played in the last 10 games:

#17 - Minnesota Wild
#18 - NY Islanders
#19 - Pittsburgh Penguins
#21 - NY Rangers
#26 - Philadelphia Flyers
#28 - St. Louis Blues (x2)
#29 - NJ Devils
#30 - Chicago Blackhawks (x2)

Contrast that with Edmonton:

#3 - Calgary Flames
#8 - Colorado Avalanche
#9 - Anaheim Ducks
#11 - San Jose Sharks
#12 - Vegas Golden Knights
#14 - Dallas Stars
#17 - Minnesota Wild
#28 - St. Louis Blues
#31 - LA Kings (twice)

---

JONES PLAYS

While there aren't official lineups for tonight yet, it seems likely we will see Caleb Jones make his NHL debut tonight. Caleb Jones and Ethan Bear will forever be linked, as long as they remain part of the Oilers organization. Jones was selected in the 4th round and with their next pick in the 5th round the Oilers selected Bear. Last season, injuries to the big club gave Bear 18 NHL games and he looked better with every game; tonight Jones will get his chance to make his mark.

It is interesting that the team has decided to recall Jones. I may be overthinking this but if the plan was to simply elevate Gravel or Benning to the second pairing, wouldn't it make more sense to simply put Garrison or Wideman onto the third pairing? I would not be surprised in the least to see Hitchcock try Jones on the second pairing.

---

LINEUPS

OILERS


Chiasson-McDavid-Draisaitl
Khaira-RNH-Puljujarvi
Lucic-Brodziak-Kassian
Caggiula-Spooner-Rieder

Nurse-Larsson
Gravel-Benning
Garrison-Wideman

Talbot

UPDATE

- Jones sticks, but not his hockey bag arrived from his flight so it looks like we will have to wait for his debut. Russell was also not on the ice for the pre-game skate and is questionable for tonight. Talbot gets the start

- The Oilers 3rd pairing will be the 2nd pairing, and the two players who have not been good enough to be regulars in the roster will the the third pairing.... this is not a good thing.

- We knew Caggiula was going to start but the fact that Rieder may also play tonight adds a new wrinkle; the Oilers may have to risk putting one of Rattie or Zykov on waivers. Instead of this, the team needs to keep Rieder on IR another game, and once Caleb Jones is ready to play, send one of Wideman or Garrison down instead.


JETS (via DailyFaceOff)

Ehlers-Schiefele-Wheeler
Connor-Little-Laine
Appleton-Lowry-Tanev
Lemieux-Roslovic-Petan

Niku-Trouba
Chiarot-Byfuglien
Kulikov-Myers

Hellebuyck

4 KEYS TO VICTORY

1) Help The Defence. As I wrote yesterday, losing Klefbom is a massive blow to this team. Apart from trading for a #1 defenceman there is no way internally to replace what Oscar brought every night. The best the team can hope for is the remaining cast to step up and play a team defensive game... they've got the right coach at the helm to instill that.

2) Play A Full 60.
I've gone the first 31 games of the season without using this cliche... last game versus the Avalanche, the Oilers struggled through most of the first period; aside from the last 5 minutes, dominated the second, and ended up holding on for dear life in the third. Similar to Colorado, Winnipeg has some serious offensive tools, as well as the depth to split them up onto different lines.

3) Drink Every time It Is Mentioned Laine Hasn't Scored In His Last 6. Laine has been streaky as can be this season. He scored only 3 goals in his first 12 games, scored 18 through November, and has yet to score this month. Edmonton seems to have a nasty habit of breaking players scoreless streaks...

4) Don't Mess With The Nuge. The day after Andrew Ference's comments came to light, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins commented on the matter. He answered very diplomatically and said that the ex captains remarks were exaggerated. RNH went on to score two goals and notch an assist against Colorado. RNH has 14 points in 14 games against Winnipeg. Fear the angry Nuge....fear him.

FILM OF THE DAY

Last time Edmonton played Winnipeg, I went with the plane theme by picking Con Air. Today I am going to keep with that theme by picking as generic a jet movie as can be. Stealth was a 2005 movie about a team of pilots that need to take down a rogue AI controlled stealth fighter. Enjoy.

Join the Discussion: » 167 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Sean Maloughney
» Oilers vs Kings - Round 1, Round 3?
» Oilers vs Jets - A WAY TOO EARLY Discussion about Trading Draisaitl
» Oilers Recent Floundering Show Failure To Address Real Issues
» Oilers vs Canadiens - Sorting Out The Blueline
» Oilers vs Caps - Blink and You'll Miss It