The Oilers look to start 2025 off on the right foot as they will be playing their first game of the calendar year tonight. Just a couple days after the Edmonton Oilers we embarrassed by the Anaheim Ducks, 5-3, in Anaheim they now have the chance for a quick redemption as they host the Ducks tonight in Rogers Place.
After starting the post-Christmas break off with two back-to-back loses against the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks the Oilers finished off 2024 with a commanding 4-1 win against the Utah Hockey Club on New Years Eve. The Oilers will hopefully be able to keep that momentum going, as they face a Ducks team that has won 3 games in a row against some good opponents.
Do not sleep on the Ducks
As the Oilers found out on Sunday, this is the NHL, and any team can beat you on any night if you do not bring your "A" game. The Oilers are not the only highly touted team to lose to the Ducks as of late though. The Ducks were able to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on New Years Eve and followed that up with a 4-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets last night in overtime.
The Ducks with their 3-game winning streak are slowly closing the gap in the Pacific Division standings. While they are still a quite a bit away from a playoff spot, the Ducks are playing good hockey and hurting other teams, most recently the three teams they have beaten. Fortunately, for the Oilers the Ducks have been put in a tough spot scheduling wise tonight.
Schedule helps the Oilers tonight
While the players in the NHL are professional atheletes, it is hard to play games on back-to-back nights, but for the Ducks they are set up in an even worse spot than that. Not only did they play last night, but they actually played extra hockey as their game went into overtime. While they did end up winning, they still needed to board a plane and fly to Edmonton.
The Ducks game ended around 8:30pm MST. That would mean even if they were able to get from the rink to the airport by 10pm they wouldn't have likely got to their hotel in Edmonton by the earliest 1am. Professional or not I imagine it would be get up for this game. Not to mention that it is the last game of a mini road trip for the Ducks and that will also play a factor mentally for the Ducks players.
Oilers need to get up early
Even though the Anaheim Ducks are playing good hockey right now and will want to keep that going, they are in a tough spot because of the schedule. With that being said I think this game has an opportunity to be a blow out win for the Oilers, if they can score early. I think if the Oilers are able to score a quick goal it will take the wind out of the Ducks sails. The Ducks are still not that good of a team on paper and if the Oilers get up early, I expect them not take their foot off the gas as revenge for the game on Sunday.
The Oilers cannot afford to lose another game to a bottom dwelling team if they hope to have a chance to win the Division. I think the players know that as well, which is why I think this game will have a much better outcome for the Oilers than the game on Sunday.