Excitement is palpable in Edmonton after one game, and though the same excitement took hold last season, this year it's different - even Tyler Dellow is optimistic. The Oilers already took a game against the undermanned predicted Northwest division winners, and have a chance to do the same against the Undermanned predicted Pacific division winners.

It wasn't the Young Gunz™ that carried the day against the Canucks, it was Ales Hemsky, now healthy and looking like the Hemsky of old. But if the Oilers are going to be successful against fully-loaded teams, the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins line is going to have to pull it's weight. Tonight, that line should get a fantastic opportunity.

Team Reports

Oilers Report: Not many changes from the Vancouver game except that Ben Eager is suffering from bruised pride and swollen eye, so he'll sit this one out in favor of Magnus Paajarvi. Paajarvi, a healthy scratch in game one, could help out the Oilers penalty kill - using four forwards on the PK long-term can't be a viable strategy.

Sharks Report: The Sharks came out flat against the Calgary Flames before turning it on and embarrassing the Flames over the last two periods. They're still missing Brent Burns, out recovering from sports hernia surgery, so the defense doesn't have the depth in will in a few weeks. The Oilers can take advantage of that and steal two more points from a playoff team.

Expected Line Combinations

Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Nail Yakupov - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky

Ryan Smyth - Shawn Horcoff - Teemu Hartikainen

Magnus Paajarvi - Eric Belanger - Lennart Petrell

Ladislav Smid - Jeff Petry

Justin Schultz - Nick Schultz

Ryan Whitney - Corey Potter

Devan Dubnyk

Scratches: Ben Eager, Mark Fistric, Darcy Hordichuk

Broadcast Information

By The Numbers