Praise Yahweh!
Praise, O you defenders of Yahweh's chosen team!
Praise the name of Yahweh!
May the name of Yahweh be glorified,
may it be glorified tonight and forever.
From the puck-drop on opening night
to the lifting of Yahweh's holy Cup
the name of Yahweh is to be praised.
Who is like Yahweh our God!
He is seated above Bowman and Kane,
he looks down on the press-box and the ice
(And the cab; it's a metaphor for everywhere.
You really thought Yahweh didn't see that?
Idiot.)
Who is like Yahweh our God!
Yahweh, who takes his chosen team to lopsided victory,
and lifts the needy up from a five-goal deficit.
Yahweh, who humiliates his enemies
and brings joy to his chosen people.
Yahweh is with his favoured team on the road!
He is always with us!
Praise Yahweh!
(Edmonton Oilers 3-1-1) @ Chicago Blackhawks (3-1-1)
United Center, 6:30 PM MDT
Television: TSN
More analysis after the jump...
Visiting Team Scouting Report: I've watched the Blackhawks play once this year, again against the Avalanche. My impression so far is that the Hawks are a surly team and not at all afraid to mix things up which means that Ryan Stone and Zack Stortini will probably be making their minutes count. They're also a very exciting team to watch because they aren't afraid to take chances in order to create offence. An example: Duncan Keith scored a short-handed goal against the Avalanche when he saw an opportunity to pinch down. The Avalanche had assumed that this would not happen as Anderson way overplayed the shot and it was an easy goal for Keith. They don't mind trading chances since they have a lot of offense. Right, Calgary? (Thanks to the Blackhawks for the other night! And for eliminating Vancouver last spring! You guys are great!). Another thing that really surprised me was seeing Tomas Kopecky - who has never scored twenty points in a season in the NHL - out on the power play pretty consistently. It just seems wrong. Then again, the Oilers had Zack Stortini score a power play goal in their last game against Nashville so maybe these kinds of personnel moves are now the norm. With two teams that have been putting up a lot of goals and aren't afraid to be physical this should be a really fun game to watch.
Chicago Blackhawks (3-1-1)
Byfuglien - Bolland - Kane
Versteeg - Toews - Sharp
Ladd - Madden- Brouwer
Kopecky - Fraser - Skille
Keith - Seabrook
Campbell - Hjalmarsson
Sopel- Barker
Niemi
Edmonton Oilers (3-1-1):
Jacques - Horcoff - Hemsky
O' Sullivan - Gagner - Stone
Penner - Brule - Comrie
Moreau - Cogliano - Stortini
Visnovsky - Staios
Grebeshkov - Gilbert
Smid - Strudwick
Khabibulin
Behind The Numbers: From Jonathan Willis at Hockey or Die!, Chicago has the second best short differential in the league at +15.6 while Edmonton lags in 24th place at -6.8
Corsi for the Oilers 4th line over the last two: Moreau -29, Cogliano -23, Stortini -17.
Sam Gagner has been on the ice for only seven scoring chances against, despite being fifth in even strength ice time among forwards for the team. The four guys in front of him have had 30, 27, 27 and 14 chances against.
Despite being outshot and outchanced, the Oilers are outscoring opponents 20-15 mainly because of their completely unsustainable early season shooting percentage as demonstrated by Jonathan.