Louie Debrusk went to look for Brian Hayward and told him, "I have seen the rookie of the year! His name is Ryan, the son of Nugent and Hopkins, and he is playing in Edmonton!"
"Edmonton!?" exclaimed Brian. "Nothing good could possibly come from there."
"Come and see for yourself," said Louie with a strange feeling that he might be forgetting something.
Anaheim Ducks (13-22-7) @ Edmonton Oilers (16-22-4)
Rexall Place, 7:30 p.m. MST
Television: Sportsnet West
More analysis after the jump...
Visiting Team Scouting Report:
Last season, the Anaheim Ducks were a terrible team that got amazing goaltending. This season, the Anaheim Ducks are a terrible team that gets putrid goaltending. A down year for Ryan Getzlaf - he's shooting 7.7% this year, his previous low was 11.0% - and a regression to normal (from ridiculous) for Corey Perry haven't helped any, especially since those guys are getting mauled with the score tied (Fenwick of 46.0% for Getzlaf and 47.8% for Perry compared to 51.8% and 50.1% last year), but the biggest difference is definitely between the pipes. Jonas Hiller has been one of the best goalies in the league over the last three years. This year his save percentage has sunk below .900. That's awfully tough to overcome.
Expected Lineups:
Edmonton Oilers (16-22-4):
Hall - Gagner - Hemsky
Smyth - Horcoff - Jones
Paajarvi - Belanger - Lander
Green - O'Marra - Eager
Smid - Petry
Peckham - Potter
Sutton - Teubert
Khabibulin
Anaheim Ducks (13-22-7):
Ryan - Getzlaf - Perry
Hagman - Koivu - Selanne
Blake - Bonino - Cogliano
Beleskey - Pelley - Parros
Sbisa - Visnovsky
Beauchemin - Fowler
Lydman - Brookbank
Deslauriers
By the Numbers:
- Anaheim's Bobby Ryan has been the subject of trade rumors for a while, and if the Oilers are in a buying mood, they have the assets to make a play. Ryan has struggled a little bit this season, and yet he's still on track for a fourth consecutive thirty-goal season. I don't know what the price tag is like, but I know that I'd be sorely tempted to make a move.
- Ryan O`Marra is back in the lineup tonight, which gives him another opportunity to wrestle the fourth line center position away from Anton Lander, at least temporarily. I find myself cheering pretty hard for O'Marra to impress tonight because one of the things that we've learned so far this season is that Anton Lander is not ready for primetime... or so it seems to me. One interesting piece of contrary evidence is David Staples' individual scoring chances, which give Lander the best individual scoring chance ratio among the team's centers.
- Josh Green is back after registering a -6 rating in just three games, and while Ben thought that may not have been a "Josh Green with the Oilers" record, I can confirm that it is, and that it's a plain old "Josh Green" record for futility too.
- After spending some time in the minors, Magnus Paajarvi has now fallen to sixth in the "forward ice time without a goal" standings. He is, however, still holding down top spot in the "shots taken by a forward without a goal" standings. Hooray!
- With Jonas Hiller playing last night against the Flames, there's a pretty good chance that Jeff Deslauriers will mind the goal for the Ducks, which is a sure sign of a team that's tanking (as Oiler fans know all too well). In 14 games with Syracuse of the AHL, Deslauriers has a 3.86 goals against average and an .887 save percentage.