October 20, 2019 /

2019/20 Edmonton Oilers GM9: Oilers @ Jets – Three Players to Watch

I think we’re in for a really good hockey game tonight Oilers fans! The last three games between the Jets and Edmonton have been exciting one-goal games. Two ended in overtime and one was decided until late in the third. That being said, Winnipeg actually had a defense then.

The Oilers will be looking to take their record to 8-1-0 while the Jets (4-5-0), who are on a three-game losing streak, will want to end that in front of the home crowd.

Did you know that Darnell Nurse averaged 28:03 of TOI when these two teams faced each other last season? He’s going to have his work cut out for him tonight because no doubt, his pair will be attempting to shut down the Jets’ big five of Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, and Nik Ehlers.

On the other hand, the Oilers have a big five of their own now (McDavid, Draisaitl, Kassian, Neal, and RNH) that Winnipeg’s raw defense will be tasked with slowing down. I say slowing down because you can’t stop a runaway train like that.

Edmonton isn’t going to have the last change tonight, so I’m thinking that the Jets are going to try and capitalize on this and send out their big boys to face Coach Tippett’s grind line that consists of Riley Sheahan, Jujhar Khaira, and Patrick Russell or Josh Archibald. This will be a very intriguing part of the game if it does go down.

Predictably, Mike Smith will be manning the nets for the Oilers. In twenty-two appearances facing Winnipeg, he has a 10-9-3 record with a GAA of 2.72 and a save percentage of .907.

Here is what Connor Hellebuyck has been doing lately,

The first ten-game segment of the year that I predicted back on Oct.3rd has gone thusly so far,

  • Vancouver (h): I predicted a loss. (LOSS) WIN 1-0-0
  • Los Angeles (h): I like the Oilers chances here against their former coach. (WIN) WIN 2-0-0
  • NYI (a): The Islanders are a tough squad. Skill and grit in excess. (LOSS) WIN 3-0-0
  • NJ (a): This game will feature FIVE former first overall picks… Should be exciting! (WIN) WIN 4-0-0
  • NYR (a): The Rags are gonna be good soon, but I like the Oilers here. (WIN) WIN 5-0-0
  • Chicago (a): I’ll take Edmonton’s young superstars vs. Chicago’s aging ones. (WIN) LOSS 5-1-0
  • Philadelphia (h): The Flyers are always a difficult team to beat and now they’ve got Carter Hart. (LOSS) WIN 6-1-0
  • Detroit (h): Ken Holland’s first game against his old team. DET’s defense is horrid though. (WIN) WIN 7-1-0
  • Winnipeg (a): I’m a huge fan of WPG’s fwd core. I’ll take the Jets here. (LOSS)
  • Minnesota (a): What are the Wild anyhow? They don’t impress me. (WIN)

Three Players to Watch for the Jets

  • Patrik Laine – So much for training camps, eh? This guy misses the entire camp, signs his deal, and then steps right in and starts producing immediately. He won’t’ be winning any Selke trophies any day but there’s a solid chance that he’ll challenge for the Rocket Richard trophy. He’s got six points in his last five games.
  • Ville Heinola – The Jets’ first-rounder in this past draft lucked out when Winnipeg decided to walk away from Tyler Myers and trade Jacob Trouba. To his credit, he won a spot on this team square and fair beating out a player that had been developing quite nicely in Sami Niku. He’s smooth, moves the puck well, and has good vision.
  • Mark Scheifele – Dale Hawerchuk v2.0 always steps up against the Oilers. He thrives when he’s in competition versus the league’s best centers. He has three goals and three assists in his last five games and last year had four points in three games when the Jets faced Edmonton.

Winnipeg hasn’t posted their lines yet. Apparently, Brian Little is back, and so if I had to guess, I’d say he’ll draw into the second line and push Andrew Copp and Mathieu Perreault down. These could change so don’t bet your girlfriend’s cat on them.

Laine-Scheifele-Wheeler
Connor-Little-Ehlers
Copp-Lowry-Roslovic
Perreault-Gustafsson-Appleton

Morrisey-Poolman
Dahlstrom-Pionk
Heinola-Kulikov

Hellebuyck
Brossoit

Three Players to Watch for the Oilers

  • Tomas Jurco – He was really good the other night and the puck was finding him. I feel like it’s just a matter of time before he scores. What better place than Winnipeg to spark the scoring for the Oilers bottom-six?
  • Markus Granlund – He was healthy scratched in Edmonton’s last game for poor play. He’s going to have to step up his game now that the Oilers have recalled Sam Gagner. I didn’t think he played all that bad, but those penalties he took were really poor. Some might even describe them as selfish.
  • Ethan Bear – Three points in his last two games… That’s not too shabby. But tonight he’ll be facing some of the NHL’s most elite goal-scoring forwards. The Detroit game will feel like a bout of lunchtime shinny compared to what Winnipeg is going to throw Bear’s way this evening. It’s a great challenge and I’m looking forward to seeing how he handles it.

I know I predicted that Edmonton would lose this match at the beginning of the month but this is a game that really favors the Oilers and that’s who I’m going to take to win this one. I don’t like how the Jets special teams are playing or the fact that they are taking the most penalties in the league and allowing the most goals against right now. Couple that with Edmonton’s near-unstoppable powerplay and it doesn’t paint a pretty picture for Winnipeg.

Who are you taking? Let us know in the comments below!

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CategoriesBeer League Hero Edmonton Oilers NHL

TagsEdmonton Oilers NHL Winnipeg Jets

Beer League Hero Written by:

I'm the Beer League Hero! I am from Camrose, Alberta but I make my home in Taipei City, Taiwan. I've been through the ups and downs and the highs and the Lowes, the Bonsignores and the McDavids, the Sathers and the Eakins but I'll never leave my Oilers, no matter what! They're with me until the end and then some. GO OILERS GO!