GAME EIGHT VS CAPITALS
enigmatic russians.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
Game: Edmonton Oilers (3-4-0) vs Washington Capitals (5-1-0)
Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton
Time: 7:00 PM MT
Where to find it: TV: Sportsnet Oilers, Radio: 630 CHED
Edmonton Oilers Preview:
4 and 4! 4 and 4! 4 and 4!
That’s what I hope the Oilers will be after tonight’s matchup. The Capitals, who are widely considered to be Stanley Cup contenders, come into Edmonton after beating up on both the flames and the Canucks. It will a fantastic matchup. The Oilers with their number one (!!) ranked penalty kill will be put to the test against a firey Capitals squad who hold the third best power play in the league.
McYakuvid will look to continue their success together against a strong defensive group. To be honest, the pair blew me away in the game against Detroit. Nail looks like a whole new Yakupov and that is fantastic. The kid is a natural born talent, and I’m glad to see him finally get to play with a legitimate center.
The key to tonight’s game: get to 500.
The Otherside:
Goalie Philipp Grubauer will make his first start of the season. Washington is third in the NHL on the power play after going 0-for-2 in a 3-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, its fourth win in a row. Forward Alex Ovechkin scored his fifth goal in as many games this season late in the third period to win it for the Capitals. The third line had the other two goals; left wing Jason Chimera scored in the first period and center Jay Beagle tied the game early in the third. “It was really the Beagle line, they were the ones that put the work boots on and just went to work, and they sort of pulled the rest of the group into the fight,” coach Barry Trotz said of Beagle, Chimera and right wing Tom Wilson. “We were able to tie it up and then cash in on a controlled breakout and two skilled players (Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov) making a pretty good play … but today we won because of the Beagle line.” Carlson extended his point streak to four games with an assist on Beagle’s goal. – nhl.com
Line Combos c/o Daily Faceoff:
Oilers:
Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Rob Klinkhammer
Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Nail Yakupov
Lauri Korpikoski – Anton Lander – Teddy Purcell
Luke Gazdic – Mark Letestu – Anton Slepyshev
Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Andrew Ference – Eric Gryba
Anders Nilsson
Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – TJ Oshie
Marcus Johansson – Nicklas Backstrom – Justin Williams
Jason Chimera – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky – Chandler Stephenson – Brooks Laich
Brooks Orpik – John Carlson
Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen
Dmitri Orlov – Taylor Chorney
Philipp Grubauer
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfCOJLRk2D4]
