The Final Countdown

The final dress rehearsal will take place hours from now on a thin sheet at Rogers Arena.  Is Will Acton going to hang on to a fourth line spot?  What about Anton Lander?  Will Keith Aulie find himself on the big club now that Nikita Nikitin is out for a couple of weeks?  Will you launch a cinder block through your television before a breath of the regular season even gets underway?

I've got odds on the last one.

The Oilers are saying

Ben Scrivens might have his hands full tonight, as the Canucks are dressing quite a few NHL regulars.  If the Canucks come out and handle the Oilers, it will be nice for them to end the preseason on a winning note.  If they lose to a team who is still auditioning players, I can't imagine that going very well.

• Who sticks after tonight?  Finland preseason sensation Jesse Joensuu?  Keith Acton's kid?  The Other Yak?  One of the two defensive young guns?  It's never the one you want.  If I can't have Omark, you can't have what you want either.
• Oh God, Keith Aulie again?
• Anton Lander gets another look, and this one's a bit more forgiving.  He's slated to go on line one with Draisaitl and Yakupov.  If you're going to score a goal, tonight's a pretty good night to do so.
• No Hall tonight, but there is an Eberle.  He'll join up with Boyd Gordon and Teddy Purcell, which gives me a strange, tingly feeling.  Like a 2 in 1 shampoo, it tingles for the thought that Eberle, Gordon and Purcell might be linemates in the coming weeks.