Round two of three goes this evening in Edmonton as the Oilers look to go 6-0-0 against the Ottawa Senators this season.
The news in Alberta’s capital with regards to its NHL team is that there are trade rumors flying everywhere at the moment. Boston’s Jake DeBrusk, Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins, and Buffalo’s Eric Staal have all been mentioned in the last 48 hours as possible candidates for acquisition by the Oilers. Ethan Bear and Kyle Turris have been suggested as players that could be moved out.
Also, Zack Kassian is back at practice and according to Bob Stauffer, he should be at least a week away from returning. Josh Archibald is dealing with an upperbody issue and there’s a chance he’ll be out tonight. William Lagesson is nearing his return as well as he’s been partnering with Evan Bouchard during the morning skates.
Should they be in the lineup, here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Sens tonight,
- #18 Tim Stutzle – Half of this phenoms goals have come against the Oilers this year. If that’s not a reason to keep an eye on him then you should do it because he’s Ottawa’s most electrifying player. I don’t know why, but his style reminded me of Alexandre Daigle a bit. Let’s hope the rest of this guys career goes a bit better on the ice.
- #26 Erik Brannstrom – One of the major pieces Ottawa got back in the Mark Stone trade, this Swede shoots and shoots and shoots. He loves it and for that, he’s a threat on the point. Luckily for the Sens that they’ve got a handful of effective net-front brutes for redirections.
- #30 Matt Murray – He’s been up and down so far this year against the rest of the division, but make no bones about it, when he’s on his game, he’s very good. Which Murray will we be getting though, that is the question.
For Ottawa to have success they’re simply going to have to outwork the Oilers and hope the hockey gods reward them for it. Edmonton is the one team they’ve failed to beat in their division so far this year and it’s not for a lack of trying. All three of the meetings prior to this one have been 3-2 losses and that tells me that maybe the games are a bit closer than thought.
If the Oilers stack their top line again with 97,29, and 56, Ottawa should try to get their best defensive unit out against them and grind on them, then take advantage of the rest of Tippett’s lineup being a little bit shy of offense.
With regards to Edmonton, I’ll be watching these three individuals closely,
- #6 Adam Larsson – He’s rivaling Darnell Nurse for best Oilers defencemen this year. He’s been fantastic from a defensive point of view. He’s never going to be a possession darling, but he has developed into one helluva shutdown defender. Bob Stauffer recently said that he could see Larsson’s next contract coming in between $2.75M and $3.25M.
- #52 Patrick Russell – With Kyle Turris being put in COVID protocol, Russell was skating on the third line with JJ Khaira and Devin Shore at practice yesterday. I’m probably the only person in this guy’s fan club, but that’s a badge I’ll gladly wear. I love the way he plays the game and I have a feeling tonight’s game is going get more physical. I’ve always wondered, if speed isn’t that much of a problem and Connor McDavid needs a winger who excels on the boards and in the corners, why doesn’t Russell get a shot?
- #39 Alex Chiasson – He scores in bunches and things have been going his way for a good two weeks aside from the suspension. Chiasson has also solidified his spot on the Oilers’ top PP unit as its net-front presence and a dangerous one at that.
Three Keys to Success For the Oilers
- Keep Calm and Don’t Give Up an Early Goal
Not that this has been a fatal problem against any team other than Toronto, it sure is a deflating event when it does come to fruition. The Ottawa Senators aren’t a great team, there’s no debate there, but they are a relentless team and one that seemingly doesn’t give up no matter the score, whereas the Oilers have collapsed a few times this year and failed to play a 60 minute game.
One thing that Edmonton has done in the past month or so is cut down the goals against quite a bit. I think it was Jason Gregor who was talking about this on his radio show last night, he said they were 7th best in the league in terms of goals against since early February and adding to that, Stauffer and Mark Spector (Sportsnet) were discussing how this club, under Dave Tippett, has learned to quiet the game down and hold onto leads late in games.
- K.I.S.S
Keep it simple stupid. For every glorious 60ft backhand pass that Leon Draisaitl hits McDavid with as he’s exiting the o-zone, there are three or four at the other team’s blueline that get turned over resulting in an odd-man rush the other way.
I love skill as much as any other hockey fan and understand that skill players usually take the most risks to make the plays they do, but these are bankable points that the Oilers badly need, especially if the Maple Leafs continue to lose (Weird there’s not been any talk of how glorious Toronto’s been in the last week or so) . I’d like the team to stop f*cking around with the puck in their own zone when they attempt to exit it. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen their defensemen bobble the puck between themselves trying to make that 5ft pass out of their own corner to the open man in the middle of the ice…
- Get That PP Going
Speaking of frustration. I don’t see a lot of movement on Edmonton’s PP. Not from them or the other team and that makes it very easy to defend.
What they need to do is work that puck around the horn faster, support the pass receiver better with two or more options, and force the Senators PKers to move their feet so that a passing lane opens up.
Ottawa may not have a ton skill but they’ve got heart and grit and will do whatever it takes to stop that puck from hitting the net. For example, Nick Paul losing his stick last game and then slide tackling the puck out of his zone.
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