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13-13-5, 1.00 p/g	Ranks	10-18-2, .742 p/g
Eastern Conf: 9th		Western Conf: 14th
20th	P/G	27th
21st	ST	23rd
23rd	ES	29th
16th	Goal	29th

The opposing view: Canes Country
Tickets - TiqIQ

Top Story:

• Calgary's Jiri Hudler scored the game winner in overtime to give the Flames a 2-1 victory over the Oilers on Saturday. The Oilers will press on fervently with the matchup that everyone's been waiting for as the Carolina Hurricanes chug into town, fresh off their loss to Vancouver last night. You'll likely remember the Hurricanes, even if vaguely, as they're the last team the Oilers faced in the great playoff caper of 1913. This game is the fourth of a five game home stand, the Oilers are 1-1-1 so far.

The Oilers are saying:

"He's turning into a much more rounded player, and he's a horse. When he's on, he carries our team, he gives us energy, he's a guy we look to produce in a number of different situations"

That's Oilers coach Dallas Eakins on Taylor Hall.

Taylor Hall is a horse, Coach. Hall leads the team with 25 points in 24 games. There's only one Frank Sinatra, one Eiffel Tower, one Santo Gold, and one Taylor Hall. He's certainly no Chris Kunitz though, eh Hockey Canada?

The Opponent is saying:

"We're in such a rat race, just like everybody else in the league, that really west versus east doesn't matter. It's two points. We're chasing the playoffs. We're right in the pack and every game really means so much to everybody these days."

That's Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller on the playoff race. Kirk Muller ought to be more in tune with the fact that the Eastern Conference isn't very good, and if he wants to make the playoffs, all he has to do is beat some pretty bad hockey teams more often than not. 31 points is a playoff team in the East right now, you'll need at least ten more in the West. The variance between East and West will likely grow as time progresses this season.

Of note:

• SOME PEOPLE CALL HIM THE SPACE COWBOY - Ilya Bryzgalov is getting closer and closer to rejoining the active roster. Bryzgalov took some shots in practice yesterday, and commented on how he feels "much better" than he did last week. Bryzgalov took a hit from Stars forward Ryan Garbutt as Garbutt made his way to the net, causing concussion like symptoms to Bryzgalov.
• Boyd Gordon has missed the last four games with a handful of injuries. He practiced yesterday with the team in a yellow non contact jersey. I don't expect him in tonight,
• Jeff Petry hit his head on the glass during the Calgary game, and will not play tonight.
• I'd be a mite bit surprised not to see Anton Belov back tonight.
• LES ETOILES - Taylor Hall earned the NHL's second star of the week after compiling a four goal, two assist performance in three games. Carolina's Jeff Skinner earned first star honours after compiling a five goal, one assist performance in three games. Everyone's a star when they watch the Oilers.

Projected Lines & Pairings:

The Edmonton Oilers

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Nail Yakupov

David Perron - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Jesse Joensuu - Mark Arcobello - Ales Hemsky

Ryan Smyth - Anton Lander - Ryan Jones

Philip Larsen - Andrew Ference

Anton Belov - Martin Marincin

Nick Schultz - Justin Schultz

Devan Dubnyk

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The Carolina Hurricanes

Jeff Skinner - Eric Staal - Tuomo Ruutu

Nathan Gerbe - Jordan Staal - Elias Lindholm

Jiri Tlusty - Manny Malhotra - Radek Dvorak

Zach Boychuk - Riley Nash - Kevin Westgarth

Justin Falk - Andrej Sekera

Ryan Murphy - Ron Hainsey

Tim Gleason - Jay Harrison

Cam Ward