Just as a couple of cigarettes will cause beautiful perfume to stink,
so also will a couple of egregious decisions mar wonderful drafting.
You will know a wise person by his actions;
a wise person knows the rules, but a fool ignores them.
You can identify a fool
just by listening to the way he speaks in public!
If your boss is angry at you, don't give up!
Sometimes opposing people in power is a sign of wisdom.
Edmonton Oilers (31-38-9) @ Anaheim Ducks (33-34-11)
Honda Center, 6:00 p.m. MDT
Television: Sportsnet West
More analysis after the jump...
Home Team Scouting Report:
This is one of those end-of-season games where neither team is particularly motivated. Both the Ducks and Oilers have been eliminated from post-season contention for a while, and both clubs are now making decisions with an eye toward next year. For the Ducks, that even meant starting Jeff Deslauriers (who has a one-way contract for next season) in their last game. Deslauriers allowed four goals on 29 shots in a Ducks' loss, which was hopefully everything that Bob Murray needed to see in order to know that he'll need to find another back-up for next season. With that loss coming just last night, it seems likely that Jonas Hiller will be back in net for Anaheim, which combined with what Edmonton is using on defense, should mean another Oilers' loss.
Expected Lineups:
Edmonton Oilers (31-38-9):
Hartikainen - Gagner - Hemsky
Jones - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Smyth - Horcoff - Petrell
Hordichuk - VandeVelde - Eager
Whitney - Cchultz
Sutton - Potter
Barker - Teubert
Dubnyk
Anaheim Ducks (33-34-11):
Hagman - Getzlaf - Perry
Cogliano - Koivu - Selanne
Ryan - Bonino - Smith-Pelly
Blake - Pelley - Beleskey
Beauchemin - Fowler
Sbisa - Visnovsky
Lydman - Brookbank
Hiller
By the Numbers:
- After Jeff Petry and Ladislav Smid were added to the walking wounded in Edmonton's last game against the Kings, the Oilers recalled Colten Teubert to fill in. Unlike with Magnus Paajarvi, this is an emergency recall, so there shouldn't be any problem with getting him into the lineup. Teubert has already played 20 NHL games this season, and is likely to end the year with 24. He struggled with the speed of the NHL game earlier this season, but if he shows well in these last four games, there's a chance that he'll be penciled in for the 2012-13 roster going into the summer.
- If that's the case, it's bad news for Cam Barker, who is also making his return to the lineup tonight. But what's bad news for Barker is good news for Oiler fans. The guy is awful. Though it is surprising to see the kind of consensus that's built up around that idea. After all, Barker has only played 21 games so far this season.
- Ryan Whitney has been struggling with his mobility this season, but you wouldn't know it by his ice time - Whitney has played the second-most five-on-five ice time per game of any Oiler defender with 16:59 per game.
- With Ladislav Smid out for this game, there is now only one player on pace to play in all 82 of Edmonton's games: Ryan Smyth. I definitely wouldn't have put my money on him before the year, although it will be the second consecutive season that he's played in every game.
- Anaheim acquired Andrew Cogliano over the summer. Not so coincidentally, the Ducks have also been one of the worst faceoff teams in the league, winning just 47.2% of the draws. Cogliano himself has taken 372 faceoffs so far this season and has won 41.7%.