If the season were to end today and it was a traditional one consisting of 82 games, the Edmonton Oilers would have accrued around 51 wins. Last season their points percentage when the pause hit was .585, this season it’s .630 and if you check the standings for the last five seasons or so, a team with around 102 points or a points percentage of .630 would be finishing in the top-8 of the entire league, if not higher.

The Edmonton Oilers have arrived.

Next step…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVdhrzCjuSE

Should they be in the lineup, here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Jets tonight,

• #13 Pierre-Luc Dubois – It’s been a season to forget for PLD. Not only did the trade demand out of Columbus not turn his season around, Jesse Puljujarvi set to pass him by on the scoresheet. Dubois has a very unique skillset in that he’s a big boy who can skill. In addition to that, he has a mean streak and that makes him a potentially very dangerous hockey player.
• #44 Josh Morrissey – If Kris Russell were a top-pair defender he’d be Josh Morrissey. Leon Draisaitl’s former junior teammate is a fantastic two-way defender who does all the things that would make Don Cherry smile like a butcher’s dog. This is the kind of player you want on your team heading into the playoffs.
• #22 Mason Appleton – A Lowetide favorite from years past, Appleton is going to get a shot on the top line tonight. It’s a good opportunity for the young man to see if he can inject a shot of something into the arms of the Jets’ scoring ability.

For Winnipeg to have success, I think they’re going to have to do two things,

• Catch the Oilers on a very bad day.
• Have the Montreal Canadiens come in and play in Winnipeg’s jerseys.

The fact of the matter is that the Oilers have the Jets’ number this year. Things could chance in the post-season if they meet but right now Winnipeg can’t seem to buy a win. All of their important players who could help them win are mired in a ridiculous slump and they don’t look to be getting out of it anytime soon. Edmonton is partying 24/7 in their heads…

With regards to Edmonton, I’ll be watching these three individuals closely,

• #97 Connor McDavid – The hunt for 100pts on the year is on baby! All McGreatness has to is average a shade over two points per game until the season ends in nine games. It should be a breeze considering four of those are against the Vancouver Canucks, right?
• #13 Jesse Puljujarvi – My boy has 8pts in his last eight games! It’s all coming together for him right now and he’s not even at 100%. Over the years we saw some big bodies like Pat Maroon, Milan Lucic, and Zack Kassian have periods of success on Connor’s wing and everybody was aware that McDavid needed a big body who could work the boards and the corners, but only a few of us knew that man would be Pulju.
• #56 Kailer Yamamoto – Killer’s light is flickering and I’m just waiting for it to catch that current full-on and to see him go supernova. He’s not hurt the team, but it feels like we’ve been waiting all season for him to get into his flow state and I think it’s coming. Players like this, they don’t shrivel up when the games get important and with this team bound to make the playoffs, Yamo will be there with bell’s on ready to pound the shit out of whoever meets him in the muck.

Three Keys to Success For the Oilers

• Ride the Wave

It will be apparent early in the game tonight whether or not the Jets have shown up. So should the Oilers have their eyes on first place in the North, they have to keep the pressure on and score first.

But maybe the team’s goal is simply the playoffs and where they finish in the standings is secondary. In that case, it’s still important for them to carry the play and maintain the possession. Just because the club is in a comfortable spot doesn’t mean it’s time to get sloppy. I’d argue it’s time to start implementing some of those post-season strategies so they’re not caught with their pants down again…

• Play Their Game

The Oilers are a team that scores off the rush. I think at least four of their goals Monday night were just that. However, I do suspect that Winnipeg will try to shut that option down. To what sacrifice, I’m not sure they’ve got the horses to turn off Edmonton’s offense AND score some goals themselves.

• Secondary Scoring

Maybe I’m just being greedy, but I’d love to see some of the players down the lineup get their names on the scoresheet. It can’t be Connor and Leon doing all of the scoring and I just feel like Gaetan Haas or Josh Archibald are due.

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The Edmonton Oilers march into Winnipeg with road record of 13-7-2 this season looking to further separate themselves from the Montreal Canadiens. The Jets will be in tough as winning at home hasn’t produced the sort of record they probably would’ve wanted (11-9-2) and they’re 2-3-0 in their last five games as well…

How much will the absence of Adam Lowry affect the bottom-six battle between these two teams and conversely, might Winnipeg be able to take advantage of a couple of untimely injuries to Oilers forwards JJ Khaira and Zack Kassian?

Should they be in the lineup, here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Jets tonight,

• #55 Mark Scheifele – Trouble in paradise for the heart of this Winnipeg club? His coach sat him for an entire period and a quarter of the next the other night in a very important hockey game against the Leafs. Can the Jets’ best player bounce back and show his coach (as well as the Oilers) what kind of dominating presence he can be or will Connor McDavid continue to eat him alive this year and further his miserableness?
• #9 Andrew Copp – This guy has had himself quite the year against the Oilers. So I’ll be watching to see if he can continue scoring goals like he has been. He’s replacing Adam Lowry, so he might have his work cut out for him in this one.
• #26 Blake Wheeler – It’s been a down year for Wheeler. Injuries have caught up to him and his stats are down, but when he’s on, he’s so good. Paul Maurice really needs Wheeler to catch fire down the stretch here if Winnipeg is going to have any chance of surpassing the Toronto Maple Leafs for first in the North or getting out of the first-round of the playoffs.

For Winnipeg to have success, their big boys are going to have to get off the schneid. Check out these numbers for the Jets’ stars against Edmonton this year,

• Scheifele – 6pts
• Stastny – 4pts (one goal)
• Connor – 4pts (one goal)
• Wheeler – 3pts
• Dubois – 3pts (in three games, mind you)

Nik Ehlers is the only player on his team who is over a point-per-game versus the Oilers in 2020-21 and he’s gone until the playoffs thanks to those goons over in Toronto… (What?!)

My suggestion would be to get that puck into the Edmonton zone under control and really work the high cycle. The Oilers wingers aside from Puljujarvi (maybe) aren’t amazing at defending this and they could really work the puck around and eventually find a seam for a cross-ice shot or a re-direction off of a point shot. I reckon Jim Playfair’s defenders would have better luck at winning the puck battles if the Jets were to try and work the boards and down low in the corners.

With regards to Edmonton, I’ll be watching these three individuals closely,

• #21 Dominik Kahun – It’s not everyday you go from the doghouse to the penthouse but Coach Tippett doesn’t have many options right now. My feeling is that Kahun will be able to hunt down the puck and make the in-tight plays with McDavid but he’ll get boxed out easily when facing Winnipeg’s top defenders. I also don’t expect him to be the only player to be playing left-wing on Edmonton’s top line this evening.
• #70 Dmitri Kulikov – I’m very excited to see what this ice-veined Russian can do to help the Oilers. I’m not expecting firewords or offense of any kind, just solid defending and maybe a little bit of getting under the skin of the opposition’s forwards. He’s a big dude and strong to boot. I suspect the Jets’ power forwards will be challenged when facing Kulikov and Larsson tonight.
• #71 Ryan McLeod – No guarantee that he’s in but if he is, you’re going to see a big body with silky hands but most notably you’ll be in awe of how well he skates. He’s a smooth operator in almost every aspect but the biggest knock on him to date has been that he’s more of a perimeter player. So we’ll have to see if he’s shed that skin in the AHL and is ready to take his game to the next level. I wonder if he might be considered a poor man’s Dylan Larkin?

Three Keys to Success For the Oilers

• Win the Special Teams

The Edmonton Oilers have the 2nd-best road PK and PP in the entire league. At home, the Jets’ PK is 10th in the NHL and their PP is 6th.

• Give 97 the Puck

Connor McDavid has 15 points in seven games against Winnipeg this year so far and in his last three games he’s piled up eight points. He’s gunning for 100 on the season and if he continues this little streak of his, he might just get it.

• Get On the Board Early

Winnipeg has been a very successful team this year when they’ve scored first (18-2-1) and not so successful when their opponents have landed the first blow (9-14-1). If the Oilers can hold onto that lead through two periods they’ll should have an excellent chance at taking home the two points as the Jets have only won 28% of their games where they’ve trailed going into the final frame.

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Finally, the Edmonton Oilers are going to play a game of hockey tonight… FFS, it’s been WAY too long. I probably shouldn’t complain because all it means is that we’re going to have to ramp up the content to keep up with all the games Edmonton is going to play until the 15th of May.

As it stands, the Oilers are in the ‘Peg tonight to take on the Winnipeg Jets, who’ve just come off of a 5-2 spanking of the North Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs a couple of nights ago.

Paul Maurice’s men are 6-2-2 in their last ten and Dave Tippett’s soldiers are 6-3-1 in their last ten. So it’s safe to say that these two teams are humming along or at least in Edmonton’s case, were humming along until Vancouver f*cked the schedule all to hell. Anybody find it interesting that the guy that’s rumored to have brought the ‘Vid into the Canucks’ ranks is one of the players they traded out of there at the deadline?

Anyways, hearsay aside, a rusty Oilers team is going to have their hands full as it is with Winnipeg’s big boys having a hell of a time on the scoresheets as of late.

• Mark Scheifele – 7pts in his last five games.
• Nik Ehlers – 7pts in his last five games.
• Kyle Connor – 6pts in his last five games.
• Neil Pionk – 5pts in his last five games.
• Connor Hellebuyck – .930 sv%, 2.02 GAA, and a 3-0-1 record in his last give games.

Hell, Mathieu Perreault and Andrew Copp have four points in their last five games too…

Seeing how the Jets are only three points behind Toronto for first place in the North and they’ve built up some momentum here, I can’t see them letting off the gas here and coasting into the post-season. Edmonton is going to need to really defend well with so many of Winnipeg’s high-end forwards scoring so well at the moment.

One big question going into this game is whether or not Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be available or will he rest until Monday for the game against Montreal?

Should they be in the lineup, here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Jets tonight,

• #37 Connor Hellebuyck – The North Division’s top netminder is heating up and that means for the Oilers who are already struggling to score, things are about to get a whole lot tougher in that regard.
• #64 Logan Stanley – This massive man mountain is set to make the lives of every Oilers forward who dares skate down his side of the ice a living nightmare. A lightmare, if you will. When he’s on the ice, the best thing a forward can hope for is that he catches him flat footed because his reach, strength, and poise everywhere else is a real challenge to overcome.
• #25 Paul Stastny – He 15 shots (!!!) in his last five games but only one goal to show for it in that time and we know that if a player is on a slump of any sort that playing the Oilers is always a good opportunity to snap out of it.

For Winnipeg to have success, all they have to do is one thing. Shut down Connor McDavid. He’s the player that will give them the most trouble and I think the Jets have the burly skaters to shut down Draisaitl and the rest of Edmonton’s power forwards.

With regards to Edmonton, I’ll be watching these three individuals closely,

• #41 Mike Smith – The last time these two clubs met, Smith was a massive reason as to why the Oilers fought back from a 2-0 deficit to win the game 4-2. I’m a little concerned that the layoff will have a detrimental impact on Smith’s game, mind you. That said, Edmonton desperately need him to be on his game tonight.
• #22 Tyson Barrie – That long break couldn’t have come at a better time. Barrie was clearly dealing with some niggling injuries and if Coach Tippett is going to use him on the top-pair with his best players, Barrie needs to be as healthy as possible.
• #13 Jesse Puljujarvi – I say this almost every time, but he has good luck against the Jets AND he’s tied with RNH for third highest scoring forward on the team in Edmonton’s last ten games with three goals and two assists.

Three Keys to Success For the Oilers

• Win the Special Teams Game

This could be a really fun battle to watch because over the last month, both of these teams are in the top-10 for PP and PK. Whoever wins this wins the game I reckon.

• Keep the Home Play Clean

Winnipeg has three elite goal scorers in their top-six, yet, I find that against the Oilers, they tend to score some mucky goals. Real Ryan Smyth Specials.  I believe this is simply due to Edmonton’s defense getting caught puck-watching, as they do almost every game.

• Take Advantage of Winnipeg’s Immobile Defense

The Jets are a very heavy and strong team and their defensemen are quite old-school. Meaning they rely on a lot of sandpaper and effort to break down the other team. So for a club like Toronto who seems to struggle versus heavy times like Winnipeg, Calgary, and Ottawa, Winnipeg has an advantage.

But when they play teams that are a mix of power, aggressiveness, and skill, they can be exposed because they’re not the most mobile of teams.

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