Once again the Oilers dominated the Nashville Predators in exciting fashion, racking up the goal totals in a high octane affair. The game marked the Oilers 5th win in a row. After a sluggish start the whole team is absolutely rolling now. The one point of contention in the last game was once again Jack Campbell. Campbell did not play great nor did he play overly poorly, leaving the consensus on the Oilers supposed starting goaltending still up for debate.

Jack Campbell still has not cost the Oilers a game and while his overall SV% still leaves much to be desired, it's hard to worry about what this means for the rest of the season just yet. Goalies are voodoo and aside from the most elite (even Shesterkin has been just really good as opposed to elite in the first month) there will be ups and downs.

Tonight against the Devils, the Oilers will go back to Stuart Skinner. Skinner leads the NHL with SV% right now at 0.955%. Astounding numbers but also a mighty small sample size. Regardless Stu has shown he can handle NHL starts and may end up playing closer to 40 games than the 25-30 we might have thought at the beginning of the year. Instead of worrying about contracts or how much a goalie is being paid; for now fans should take solace in the fact that the team has two very good goalies who both have starter potential.

If you were asked where the Oilers ranked in goals against at 5 on 5 in the NHL, what would you guess? I would have assumed somewhere in the 14-20 range and yet the team sits tied for 8th with the New Jersey Devils with 17 goals against. The Oilers are showing they are a very good team at 5 on 5, the most crucial aspect of the game and something that eluded this team for years.

Ironically, an area that used to be fairly consistent; the penalty kill has been the most pressing concern. Edmonton has allowed 12 PP goals against this year, tied with the hapless Canucks. The only teams that have allowed more are the Kings and Ducks at 13 goals against. Whether Campbell or Skinner has been in net, the Oilers are allowing far too many PP goals against. The overall systems need work and is something Woodcroft needs to adapt.

Every year before the beginning of the season, people talk about how the Devils are finally going to be good and every year things have come up short. It is starting to look like the Devils have finally arrived. Bratt continues to grow as a player, putting up 16 points in the first 10 games and Hischier and Hughes both look primed for 80+ point seasons. Add to the mix other talented players like Dougie Hamilton, Dawson Mercer, John Marino, and Yegor Sharangovich and that is a solid core group.

More important than just a group of talented players is how the Devils consistently are able to outchance their opponents and prevent much of anything in shot generation. The Devils have not allowed a team hit the net more than 25 times this season and that happened in the first game of the season against the Flyers. At the same time they are creating tons of chances the other way, regularly shooting 36+ times a game. This will be an excellent test for the Edmonton Oilers to find ways to gain possession in the Devils end and generate shots against a stifling team.

The good news for Edmonton may be that while the Devils do not allow many shots, the shots that get through do still have a good chance at beating their netminders, Vanacek has a 0.903SV% while Blackwood only has a 0.879SV%. If the Oil can find a way to break through the wall that is the Devils systems, they can likely do some damage.

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HONORING LEGENDS

Prior to the start of tonight's game, the Edmonton Oilers will be introducing Ryan Smyth and Lee Fogolin into their inaugural Wall of Fame at Rogers Place. Ryan Smyth was never the fastest or most skilled player; but rarely could you say he wasn't the most hard working player on the ice. Smyth earned his career taking shots to the back in front of the blue paint, tipping or hammering shots past netminders. Many Oilers fans will say the worst day in the history of the team was the day Gretzky was traded... and the second worst was the day Smyth was. For a blue collar city, Smyth was the embodiment of how hard work and the right attitude can lead to success.

Cut from the same cloth, albeit years earlier is Lee Fogolin. I never had the privilege's of truly experiencing Fogolin's game but he was the steady shutdown presence that contrasted the rest of the 80's Oilers all offense game. If another team was eventually able to get the puck into the Oilers end...Fogolin was waiting for them.

Neither of these players put up numbers that would put them into the Hockey Hall of Fame but for their respective times, both men perfectly embodied what it was to be an Edmonton Oiler and were beloved by this fanbase. I look forward to seeing what kinds of tributes the organization does for this event. Hopefully after that the current iteration of the team can reward these two great former players by watching a win.

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