The Edmonton Oilers march into Winnipeg with road record of 13-7-2 this season looking to further separate themselves from the Montreal Canadiens. The Jets will be in tough as winning at home hasn’t produced the sort of record they probably would’ve wanted (11-9-2) and they’re 2-3-0 in their last five games as well…
How much will the absence of Adam Lowry affect the bottom-six battle between these two teams and conversely, might Winnipeg be able to take advantage of a couple of untimely injuries to Oilers forwards JJ Khaira and Zack Kassian?
Should they be in the lineup, here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Jets tonight,
- #55 Mark Scheifele – Trouble in paradise for the heart of this Winnipeg club? His coach sat him for an entire period and a quarter of the next the other night in a very important hockey game against the Leafs. Can the Jets’ best player bounce back and show his coach (as well as the Oilers) what kind of dominating presence he can be or will Connor McDavid continue to eat him alive this year and further his miserableness?
- #9 Andrew Copp – This guy has had himself quite the year against the Oilers. So I’ll be watching to see if he can continue scoring goals like he has been. He’s replacing Adam Lowry, so he might have his work cut out for him in this one.
- #26 Blake Wheeler – It’s been a down year for Wheeler. Injuries have caught up to him and his stats are down, but when he’s on, he’s so good. Paul Maurice really needs Wheeler to catch fire down the stretch here if Winnipeg is going to have any chance of surpassing the Toronto Maple Leafs for first in the North or getting out of the first-round of the playoffs.
For Winnipeg to have success, their big boys are going to have to get off the schneid. Check out these numbers for the Jets’ stars against Edmonton this year,
- Scheifele – 6pts
- Stastny – 4pts (one goal)
- Connor – 4pts (one goal)
- Wheeler – 3pts
- Dubois – 3pts (in three games, mind you)
Nik Ehlers is the only player on his team who is over a point-per-game versus the Oilers in 2020-21 and he’s gone until the playoffs thanks to those goons over in Toronto… (What?!)
My suggestion would be to get that puck into the Edmonton zone under control and really work the high cycle. The Oilers wingers aside from Puljujarvi (maybe) aren’t amazing at defending this and they could really work the puck around and eventually find a seam for a cross-ice shot or a re-direction off of a point shot. I reckon Jim Playfair’s defenders would have better luck at winning the puck battles if the Jets were to try and work the boards and down low in the corners.
With regards to Edmonton, I’ll be watching these three individuals closely,
- #21 Dominik Kahun – It’s not everyday you go from the doghouse to the penthouse but Coach Tippett doesn’t have many options right now. My feeling is that Kahun will be able to hunt down the puck and make the in-tight plays with McDavid but he’ll get boxed out easily when facing Winnipeg’s top defenders. I also don’t expect him to be the only player to be playing left-wing on Edmonton’s top line this evening.
- #70 Dmitri Kulikov – I’m very excited to see what this ice-veined Russian can do to help the Oilers. I’m not expecting firewords or offense of any kind, just solid defending and maybe a little bit of getting under the skin of the opposition’s forwards. He’s a big dude and strong to boot. I suspect the Jets’ power forwards will be challenged when facing Kulikov and Larsson tonight.
- #71 Ryan McLeod – No guarantee that he’s in but if he is, you’re going to see a big body with silky hands but most notably you’ll be in awe of how well he skates. He’s a smooth operator in almost every aspect but the biggest knock on him to date has been that he’s more of a perimeter player. So we’ll have to see if he’s shed that skin in the AHL and is ready to take his game to the next level. I wonder if he might be considered a poor man’s Dylan Larkin?
Three Keys to Success For the Oilers
- Win the Special Teams
The Edmonton Oilers have the 2nd-best road PK and PP in the entire league. At home, the Jets’ PK is 10th in the NHL and their PP is 6th.
- Give 97 the Puck
Connor McDavid has 15 points in seven games against Winnipeg this year so far and in his last three games he’s piled up eight points. He’s gunning for 100 on the season and if he continues this little streak of his, he might just get it.
- Get On the Board Early
Winnipeg has been a very successful team this year when they’ve scored first (18-2-1) and not so successful when their opponents have landed the first blow (9-14-1). If the Oilers can hold onto that lead through two periods they’ll should have an excellent chance at taking home the two points as the Jets have only won 28% of their games where they’ve trailed going into the final frame.
Give us a follow on the socials!
- Youtube: Beer League Heroes Channel
- Twitter: @beerleagueheroe
- Instagram: @beerleagueheroes
- Facebook: Beer League Heroes
