After going 0-3-0 to start their homestand, the Edmonton Oilers have rallied off four wins in a row. Tonight, the Vancouver Canucks will look to prevent a fifth win in a row but it’ll be a tough slog for them as Edmonton is 11-1 under Dave Tippett in the second half of back-to-backs. Not only that, but this season the Oilers are 8-3-0 on the road.
Should they be in the lineup, here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Canucks tonight,
- #70 Tanner Pearson – Zero points in his last ten games and playing in the top-six? He must have some unforgiving pics of Travis Green. It’s that or Jim Benning is shopping him. In the past, players who’ve been on scoring slumps have done relatively well against the Oilers…
- #27 Travis Hamonic – I suspect Hamonic is getting shopped right now and there’s no doubt in my mind that contending teams would love to bring him in considering how physical and unselfish he is. I don’t expect him for one moment to let up on any of Edmonton’s forwards tonight.
- #9 JT Miller – Has been centering Vancouver’s top line recently and his fights/60 are increasing as his growing frustration over the team’s mounting losses. Edmonton will be facing a very grumpy Canuck who has five points in his last five games tonight.
For Vancouver to have success, they’ll need to replicate how the four wins they’ve accrued in their last six. I haven’t watched much of the Canucks outside of their games against Edmonton, but if I had to guess as to what their winning formula was I would say that their big boys came to play and they worked their asses off because that’s how Coach Green has found success with this team in the past.
That means Brock Boeser needs to be finding that soft ice and his center, be that Bo Horvat or JT Miller, will be doing the dirty work to get him the puck.
Vancouver’s scoring from the blueline has all but dried up in their last five contests, so they’ll need to regain their scoring touch if a win is in their cards.
I don’t give the Canucks much of a chance tonight, but that being said, their defense is much better than Ottawa’s, more physical and relentless too, and their goalies are better. Coming out heavy and hard on the Oilers stars and shutting down that first line, as impossible of a task as that seems, will be very key in tonight’s matchup.
With regards to Edmonton, I’ll be watching these three individuals closely,
- #19 Mikko Koskinen – I’ve not been that disappointed with Koskinen in his last few starts. He let in a bad one really early when he was called upon last, but I thought he battled through valiantly to finish that game. What he needs is one really good outing where he’s considered a factor in Edmonton winning the two points on the evening. I consider his confidence not to be at its optimum level, a really good night in net would jack that up considerably.
- #15 Josh Archibald – At the end of last night’s game, Bob Stauffer reckoned that Archie was set to be reinserted into the lineup. So this one is a bit up in the air until the lines have been announced. That said, should he be skating tonight, his forechecking and physicality will be welcomed with open arms, especially with Antoine Roussel running about as he’s likely to be doing.
- #82 Caleb Jones – I was impressed with the last two performances of his against the Senators. He was calm and collected and moved the puck quickly in his own zone. Also, his decision making has improved greatly since the beginning of the year. Those pinches in the offensive zone have been much better.
Three Keys to Success For the Oilers
- Early Pressure
In their 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, the Canucks were pressured early and often and they couldn’t find any room or time to get their shit together. Even against teams that are located outside of Ottawa, we know that the Oilers can do this. My only question is, can a line outside of Edmonton’s first do it?
- Protect the Stars
By the end of the third game against Ottawa this week, the Sens were beginning to take runs at Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. If Vancouver potentially sees this as a rewarding venture, I’m hoping that the likes of JJ Khaira, Alex Chiasson, and either (or both) of Josh Archibald and Zack Kassian step up to the plate so that Darnell Nurse doesn’t have to.
- Don’t Get Sleepy
I’ve read that the Canucks like a good stretch pass from time-to-time. It would behoove the Oilers not to get sleepy on that fact and be aware of who’s on the ice and where they are positioned at all times. God knows that in the past, Edmonton’s defensemen have been prone to a bit of puck watching.
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