In a bid to take their record to 7-1-0, the Edmonton Oilers will take on Ken Holland’s old team, the Detroit Red Wings. Now lead by former great Steve Yzerman, the 3-4-0 Red Wings are looking to halt a two-game losing streak.
Versus the Flyers, the Oilers’ top line of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Kassian were destroyed on the fancies but did the destroying on the scoresheet. I’ll be very interested to see if Detroit line matches as we could see some real riverboat gambling should both teams decide to go for it. Larkin, Mantha, and Bertuzzi vs. Connor, Leon, and Zack is surely going to raise our heartrates on more than one occasion.
Another potential line battle I’m looking forward to is the Oilers shutdown line of Jujhar Khaira, Riley Sheahan, and Patrick Russell against Detroit’s lunchpail line of Darren Helm, Jacob De La Rose, and Justin Abdelkader. This should be a solid display of grit and work ethic in addition to some very physical play… Perfect… Old school hockey, baby!
Lastly, Ethan Bear vs. Filip Hronek should be a dynamic competition. The 21-year-old Czech native suited up for 43 games last season and scored five goals and 18 assists and is one of Detroit’s rising stars. Ethan Bear, a rising star for the Oilers, has averaged 19:53 in TOI this season to date. He’s emerged as the perfect partner for Darnell Nurse and thus allowed the Oilers to keep blue-chipper Evan Bouchard in the minors to continue his development.
The only downside to this game is if the top lines cancel each other out as both teams have had a problem with secondary scoring…
Through seven games, the Red Wings’ top line has produced eleven of their 18 goals scored this season. (source)
https://twitter.com/Milarso/status/1185250081068453888
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)
- 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 Red Wings
- Anthony Mantha – Those who have watched Mantha progress since being drafted will know that it took some time for this big man to find his way in the NHL. He’s quite lucky that his GM was a draft and develop guy… The grandson of Canadiens great Andre Pronovost has six goals in seven games this year. He’ll be a massive threat tonight and Darnell Nurse might have his work cut out for him if he’s tasked with taking care of Mantha.
- Taro Hirose – This craft forward was signed out of Michigan State last year where he had 35 points in 36 games. After ten appearances for Detroit at the end of last season, he amassed seven points. This season hasn’t gone as good, Hirose only has two points in seven games so far.
- Tyler Bertuzzi – Surprisingly, T-Bert is on a point-per-game pace early on. You’ll notice him because he’s very abrasive and he thrives in the trenches. I’m hoping that Coach Tippett sends Matt Benning out while Bertuzzi is on the ice. I’d like to see those two go head-to-head.
The projected lines for Detroit:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha
Glendening-Nielsen-Athanasiou
Hirose-Filppula-Erne
Helm-De La Rose-Abdelkader
Daley-Hronek
Nemeth-Green
Cholowski-Biega
Bernier
Three Players to Watch for the Oilers
- Connor McDavid – 17pts in 7 games… Five points in his last game. What will he do for an encore?
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Nuge has six points in his last four games. It seems he’s caught a bit of what Leon and Connor have. Can he make it five games in a row with points?
- Gaetan Haas – Half of “European Showtime” will dress as a replacement for Markus Granlund. The Oilers should benefit from his speed and defensive acumen IF Tippett decides to use him and not ride his big three instead.
The projected lines are as follows:
Draisaitl-McDavid-Kassian
Neal-RNH-Chiasson
Khaira-Sheahan-Russell
Jurco-Haas-Archibald
Klefbom-Russell
Nurse-Bear
Manning-Benning
Koskinen
Mikko Koskinen will start again tonight. I’m marginally concerned about his fitness after the effort he put forth in the Philly game two nights ago. The Red Wings are on the back half of a back-to-back and this will be their third game in four nights. I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Oilers take this one. McDavid and Draisaitl are on a legendary heater right now and it’d be a bit foolish to bet against them scoring more points. But they’d better clean up their act and stop giving away the possession game or else it’ll be the Red Wings coming away with the two points.
