The time is finally here game one of the regular season is finally upon us. It has been a very long offseason for Edmonton Oilers fans and now the wait is over.
Tonight the Edmonton Oilers will open up their season on the road in Vancouver as they face the Canucks. The Canucks are a team that hopes to improve on their lacklustre last season. A big change this season for the Vancouver Canucks will hopefully be a healthy Thatcher Demko.
Missing Demko for most of last season really hurt the Canucks and their playoff chances. If this team can stay healthy they have a fighting chance to squeak into the playoffs.
Fortunately for the Edmonton Oilers though. They are still a much better team than the Canucks. They are no match for the Edmonton Oilers in pretty much every aspect of the game. The only advantage the Canucks may have is in goal as Demko has previously been a Vezina finalist.
Date: October 11, 2023
Time: 8:00 PM MST
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver
Where To Watch: Sportsnet
Radio: 630 CHED
Betting Odds: Oilers -1.5
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Edmonton Oilers Lines
Oilers lines at practice:
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) October 9, 2023
Kane-McDavid-Brown
RNH-Draisaitl-Hyman
Holloway-McLeod-Foegele
Janmark-Ryan
Looks like the defencemen are rotating through. Ekholm, Kulak, McLeod look like full participants by this eye.
It also looks as if Jack Campbell will be getting the start tonight.
Vancouver Canucks Lines
Line combinations from Wednesday morning’s #Canucks skate:
— 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 Faber 🔥 (@ChrisFaber39) October 11, 2023
Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Garland
Di Giuseppe-Miller-Boeser
Joshua-Suter-Beauvillier
Höglander-Lafferty-Mikheyev
Hughes-Hronek
Cole-Myers
Hirose-Juulsen pic.twitter.com/aBVy6xfjJG
Can’t Win Or Lose The Cup In Game One
I have said it many times before, but in the first game of the season you will neither win or lose the Stanley Cup, but you can certainly set the tone for the whole season. That is exactly what the Edmonton Oilers need to do tonight.
If the Edmonton Oilers show me that they have improved from last season, in the areas that they were weak in then I think tonight’s game will be a win in more than just what is on the scoreboard. If they cut away the bad mistakes in their own end and get solid goaltending they will prove to me they are real Cup contenders.