Edmonton Oilers Prep for Round Two with Blues at Rexall
Today is the day that fans in Edmonton have been looking forward to for almost a month. The Edmonton Oilers last home opener in Rexall Place versus the St Louis Blues. In the game today we will see a team that has struggled to find a win in its first three games play against a solid Blues team that in recent years has been, well, very solid. After starting off 0-3, the Oilers have some major positives going into tonight’s game.
After all, young gun Connor McDavid finally potted his first career NHL goal and Klefboms’ goal marked the first legitimate goal scored since the season has started. In todays pre-game review I’ll bring you up to speed with some of the bright spots of the team along with “The Markoff”s Keys to the Game“, projected line ups, and my personal predictions for the end results of the game.
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On The Bright Side:
It is true when they say that it has been a rough first few games for Edmonton, but who are we kidding, the team is in its infancy stage of their rejuvenation (this has been said many times over many years, but this time, it’s for real) as a solid franchise. There is going to be a bumpy road for the better part of this year, so any real bright spot will be noticed. First off, goal-tending, it is safe to say that our goalies haven’t been very good, or have lived up to their hype (however you want to look at it). A big key however has been our lack of solid defensemen, which I will get to in a moment, what the team lacked was a shut down goalie who could essentially steal games away from other teams. We have found that in Cam Talbot and Anders Nilsson. So far, the two net-minders have lived up to the potential that was expected of them as they have kept the team in each game played thus far.
Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Now on to the defense. Andrej Sekera has not, in my opinion, lived up to the hype he brought along with him from L.A. However, the team as a whole have stepped up their defensive game tremendously from the years past. While there are still minor hiccups on the back-end, there is still a lot of good things being done on defense. The defensive core is starting to win puck battles, they’re starting rushes more fluidly, and they are becoming more aggressive. This will all change for the best in the months to come as they all jell together as a team.
The Markoff’s Keys to the Game:
- Be Aggressive: We have all seen that the team hasn’t been scoring very many goals and I am led to believe that it’s due to not being aggressive while entering the opponents zone, and while in front of the net. Get in, get the puck moving, and hit the net.
- Keep Moving: The team has been taking a lot of bad penalties over the last three games, one way to thwart this is to keep their feet moving and restrain from being “idle” on the ice.
- Stalwart Defending: The defense needs to step it up and give the forwards an easier opportunity to enter the offensive zone (and remain there). Hard work is key for every successful team, but the Oilers’ defense needs to put in 110% in order for them to be successful.
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Projected LineUps
Here are the projected lines for the Edmonton Oilers:
Forwards:
Defense:
St. Louis Blues:
Forwards:
Steen-Stastny-Tarasenko
Jaskin-Backes-Brouwer
Upshall-Lehtera-Schwartz
Ott-Brodziak-Reaves
Defense:
Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo
Gunnarsson-Parayko
Edmundson-Bortuzzo
Pipes and Predictions
In goal the Oil send out Cam Talbot, while the Blues counter with Brian Elliot. Look for another goalie duel tonight between two very tough net-minders. My prediction for tonight is in favor of the Oilers, I predict a 5-4 overtime win with McDavid scoring two goals in regulation, Yakupov gets one goal, and Nugent Hopkins scores the 4th and assists on a Taylor Hall OT winner. Thanks everyone for reading, I hope you enjoy the last home opener in Rexall history.