O Yahweh, remember what happened to us in Carolina!
We have been disgraced again!
Remember that our inheritance was turned over
to those who don't know icing from offside,
that our Cup was handed over
to foreigners.
We are now like helpless orphans,
like old widows with nowhere to turn for help.
We're forced to pay eight dollars for beer,
and even pizza made from cardboard is expensive!
Those above us in the standings show us no mercy,
and though sick of losing, we are given no rest.
There is no doubt that this team will be defeated by Babylon and Assyria,
that the Wings and Devils will destroy them again.
But it is the managers who have sinned, yet they remain alive!
And we are suffering through the punishment that they deserve.
Edmonton Oilers (4-7-2) @ Detroit Red Wings (9-3-1)
Joe Louis Arena, 5:30 p.m. MST
Television: Sportsnet Edmonton
More analysis after the jump...
Visiting Team Scouting Report:
The Oilers have seen the Red Wings once already this season, but they've switched up their lines and pairings since that outing (as have the Oilers). Still, in that game Mike Babcock tried to go for a power vs. power matchup with Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom taking on Horcoff, Hemsky, and Hall. It seems likely that he'll be going for that match again, but should get it more easily at home than he did on the road. He'll also be looking at a top line that features Gagner instead of the injured Horcoff. After that, Tom Renney can probably count on Penner and co. seeing the Wings' second line, and Mike Modano's third unit to run over the leftovers. Should the Wings somehow fall behind and we see Babcock decide to find his top guys more favourable matchups, we just might get a chance to see a sequel to The Shift.
Expected Lineups:
Edmonton Oilers (4-7-2):
Hall - Gagner - Hemsky
Penner - Cogliano - Eberle
Paajarvi - Brule - Jones
Fraser - Stortini
Whitney - Peckham
Smid - Foster
Strudwick - Gilbert
Vandermeer
Khabibulin
Detroit Red Wings (9-3-1)
Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Holmstrom
Hudler - Filppula - Franzen
Bertuzzi - Modano - Cleary
Abdelkader - Helm - Miller
Lidstrom - Stuart
Ericsson - Rafalski
Kronwall - Salei
Howard
By the Numbers:
- The Red Wings have scored 3.23 goals per game so far this season, good enough for fourth in the NHL. Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and Henrik Zetterberg are, unsurprisingly, the offensive leaders. They're all tied with 15 points in 13 games, which turns out to be 1.15 points per game, good enough for ninth in the NHL.
- The Oilers, meanwhile, have been awful defensively, allowing 3.54 goals per game, which puts them in 29th overall (the Thrashers are still really bad). Tom Gilbert has been on the ice for more opposing celebrations than anyone else with 31 goals against so far this season, or 2.38 GA per game. That's not to say that those goals are all on him, but it does suggest that Gilbert needs to be better if this team is going to be competitive.
- Another indication that Gilbert might be off his game so far this season? In 258 career games before the start of this season Gilbert had only taken a total of 30 minor penalties, or one penalty for every 11.6 games. But through 13 games in 2010-11, Gilbert has already taken eight minor penalties, or one penalty for every 1.6 games.
- The Red Wings have been much better at home this season than they have on the road. At home, they have a goal differential of +9 (+27 -18), compared to a road goal differential of 0 (+15 -15). With such a large disparity in goal differential, I expected there to be an some disparity in territorial advantage as well, but that doesn't seem to be the case. At home the Red Wings have outshot their opponents 196-173 at EV, and on the road, they've outshot their opponents 121-106 at EV (in one fewer game).
- Linus Omark has 18 points in 16 AHL games, while Liam Reddox has 14 points in 16 AHL games. Both guys have been outscorers at even strength, and it seems likely that they've been used against some of the tougher competition that league has to offer. I bring it up now because the Oilers will dress seven defensemen tonight after playing Steve MacIntyre on the fourth line for the last two games. The most likely explanation for this? Steve Tambellini wanted to call someone up, but then had trouble picking just one.