Edmonton Oilers Look to Dethrone Los Angeles Kings
Oct 23, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) watches the puck in front of Edmonton Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot (33) during the third period at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
The Edmonton Oilers had a brutal awakening Friday night when they faced the Washington Capitals, and it was that there are going to be a lot of ups and downs during this season as the team tries adapting to the new system of coach Todd McLellan. The team dropped a high scoring affair 7-4 to Washington in what was essentially an exciting game. However, bad giveaways and timely mistakes ruined this teams chances of winning their fourth game in a row. It is not the end of the road as the Oilers will be at home again looking to dethrone the lowly Los Angeles Kings, whom of which are having an abysmal start to the season. In todays edition of OilonWhyte I’ll be bringing up a couple key highlights from the Oilers previous game along with, “Markoffs Keys to the Game“, projected line-ups, and my prediction for the end result of this contest.
There wasn’t too many things to be excited about during the Oilers previous game. One of two bright spots was that young rookie sensation Connor McDavid had another two points which now puts him into a tie for the rookie scoring lead. The other bright spot was that the Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov line seemed to click yet again as that line accounted for 4 of the teams 9 points. I hope these guys, and the rest of the team, comes alive tonight against a team that hasn’t really seemed to put it together yet to start the 2015/2016 season.
Oct 23, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Benoit Pouliot (67) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Washington Capitals in the second period at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
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Markoffs Keys to the Game
- Be Calm; There is no need to make unnecessary passes when there isn’t room to do so. Stay calm, play the puck where it won’t easily be picked off by the opposing team. That goes for back-checking as well, be calm, no need to rush a play that is not there.
- Positioning; Be where your team-mates think you will be, communication is a huge part of hockey. If there is no communication there will be a massive breakdown. Like seen against Washington a couple of nights ago, lack of communication will result in a lopsided affair.
- Hit the net; I am using this one again as the team is still taking very reckless shots from the point. Make sure you can hit the net, or get it pretty close. A lot of goals will come from rebounds off of the goalie, as the NHLs’ goaltenders get bigger it will also become harder to score on shots that aren’t screened or have been buried after a rebound.
Projected LineUps
Edmonton Oilers
Forwards:
Hall–Nugent Hopkins–Klinkhammer
Defense:
Los Angeles Kings
Forwards:
Gaborik-Kopitar-Brown
Lucic-Carter-Toffoli
Pearson-Shore-Lewis
Clifford-Andreoff-Nolan
Defense:
McNabb-Doughty
Muzzin-Martinez
Forbort-Ehrhoff
Between Two Posts: Goalies and Oil Prediction
Jonathon Quick gets the start in goal for the Kings, while Cam Talbot backstops for the Oilers. My prediction for this one is a 5-1 victory for your Edmonton Oilers. I feel like the Kings are a much weaker team this year and the Oilers will use that to their advantage tonight. McDavid also scores his first NHL hat trick.