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7-7-4 1.0 p/g		10-8-2, 1.1 p/g
Western Conf: 12th		Western Conf: 9th

Top Story: The Oilers stole a point from Chicago that they didn't deserve, but badly needed. I predicted that the Oilers need 10 points from this road trip to stay competitive and 12 points to move into a playoff spot. A point against the Blackhawks is a great start, but they need to beat Dallas in regulation. A loss moves Edmonton six points behind Dallas with two road games in hand - not a good situation to be in.

The Oilers are saying:

"I know, in my case, if I was struggling, I could at least go out and bang some people."

--Kevin Lowe, on the struggles of Ryan Whitney to get into the lineup.

The Opponent is saying:

"If it wasn’t this trade, there was going to have to be movement in the next few years and they are going to have to find a way to move that money. It was going to happen now, or in the summer or next year. There was a great opportunity to go to Dallas. There’s a player there I spent a number of years with in Carolina in Ray Whitney. I placed a call to Ray, and he had great things to say about the organization."

--Erik Cole, on waiving his no-movement clause.

Key matchup: Ralph Krueger tried some wacky stuff in practice yesterday.

#Oilers forward lines at practice this morning in Dallas are 4-93-14, 28-89-83, 94-20-64 and 55-54-37

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 27, 2013

If Magnus Paajarvi wasn't ailing or resting, and this is an indication of the lineup against Dallas, the Oilers' coaching staff has no idea what it's doing. The Gagner - Hemsky duo couldn't break even with Nail Yakupov or Teemu Hartikainen, but were very good against Chicago with Paajarvi. It's time for Krueger to stop playing around with his lineup and his tactics and use the few advantages he has to create positive matchups. Ryan Jones on the second line is not a positive matchup, nor is Nail Yakupov on a checking line.