Oilers vs Maple Leafs Preview – A Battle of the Basement

TALE OF THE TAPE:

Game: Edmonton Oilers (21-29-5) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (19-24-9)

Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton

Time: 7:00 PM MT

Where to find it: TV: Sportsnet West – Radio: 630 CHED

Edmonton Oilers Preview:

With the Toronto Maple Leafs in town, the Oilers have a great chance to regain some momentum. The Oilers came out strong after the all-star break with big wins against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Ottawa Senators, but falted greatly facing the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, and the New Jersey Devils.

Toronto and Edmonton are the 29th and 30th ranked teams in the league. Both teams are undergoing big changes and are at points where they are looking for people to step up in big ways.

Interestingly enough, 29 of the Oilers 47 points have come at home. A 14-10-1 home record is a strong silver lining in what has been another tough season to watch. The injury bug refuses to go away.

Some of the big news around Edmonton was the Oilers decision to send Anders Nilsson to the Bakersfield Condors and recall Laurent Brossoit. “LB” has posted a 2.70 GAA and a .921 sv% in 26 games this year. His sv% is good enough for seventh in the AHL. While the 22 year old will not start tonight, I would expect him to play on the upcoming six game homestand.

Nilsson will get a chance to get his game back in the AHL with the team playing four games in the next nine days.

Anton Lander is relegated to the press box and has yet to play after the All-Star break.

Predictions for tonight:

1. Justin Schultz scores.
2. Cam Talbot gets a shutout.
3. McDavid scores a highlight reel goal against his childhood team.

Maple Leafs Preview: Goalie Jonathan Bernier will start. Forwards Michael Grabner and Nazem Kadri took maintenance days and did not practice on Wednesday, but they are expected to play. Newcomers Jared Cowen and Colin Greening, acquired Tuesday in the nine-player trade that sent captain Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators, practiced with their new team for the first time; however, coach Mike Babcock would not say whether either would play. Greening had been with the Binghamton Senators of the AHL and was recalled by the Maple Leafs on an emergency basis; Cowen had been a healthy scratch 16 times this season and requested a trade earlier this year. “I’m happy I’m here, a fresh start, this is what I wanted,” Cowen told the Maple Leafs website. “I wanted to be somewhere else; a good coaching staff, I know they’re going to win here eventually.” Forward Milan Michalek, also part of the trade, is out with a broken finger. The Maple Leafs are 3-9-2 in their past 14 games and began this five-game road trip with losses to the Senators (6-1 on Saturday) and Calgary Flames (4-3 on Tuesday). – nhl.com

Line Combos and Starting Goalies c/o Left Wing Lock:

Oilers (Cam Talbot):

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell
Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Iiro Pakarinen – Mark Letestu – Nail Yakupov
Zack Kassian – Matt Hendricks – Lauri Korpikoski

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Darnell Nurse – Justin Schultz
Brandon Davidson – Eric Gryba

EDM Injuries: Oscar Klefbom (undisclosed), Andrew Ference (hip), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (hand)

Scratched: Adam Clendening, Anton Lander

Toronto Maple Leafs (Jonathan Bernier):

Michael Grabner – Peter Holland – Leo Komarov
Daniel Winnik – Nick Spaling – Josh Levio
Colin Greening – Mark Arcobello – PA Parenteau
Rich Clune – Byron Frose – Brad Boyes

Matt Hunwick – Morgan Reilly
Jake Gardiner – Roman Polak
Martin Marincin – Frank Corrado

TOR Injuries: Nazem Kadri, (lower body), James van Riemsdyk (foot), Stephane Robidas (lower body), Tyler Bozak (upper body), Joffrey Lupul (middle body), Shawn Matthias (whiplash), Milan Michalek (broken finger), Jared Cowen (hips)

Any ideas on how to improve my game previews? Send me an email at zjlaing@gmail.com.