Game Thread: Senators vs Oilers - Home Sweet Home

Having finished up one of their longest road trips of the season (there is a six game trip on the schedule in February) the Oilers return to Rexall Place this evening for the first of five games in ten days. The home stand starts off against the Ottawa Senators who, as I'm sure you know, play in the Eastern Conference. Normally the conference that the opposition plays in wouldn't be worth pointing out, but, for whatever reason, the Oilers only seem capable of beating teams from the East. And that's a little unfortunate because more than 60% of the schedule contains teams from the West.

How To Tune In

Sportsnet Oilers at 7:30. The late puck drop means you'll be able to watch an hour of the Dolphins pummeling the Bills before this game gets going.

What To Watch With The Oilers

When the Oilers played in Nashville on Tuesday night, Iiro Pakarinen saw the ice just twice in the second period and had no shifts in the third. After spending the majority of the game stapled to the bench I thought he'd be trading places with Luke Gazdic tonight, I even had a snark filled paragraph about GRITENSITY ready to go, but Dallas Eakins surprised the hell out of me and decided to keep Pakarinen in the lineup. But the news is not all good; the defence remains unchanged as well, so enjoy another night of Nikita Nikitin. And Keith Aulie. And Andrew Ference. No word yet on when Martin Marincin will shave his sideburns.

What To Watch With The Sens

When Curtis Lazar last played a game in Edmonton, he and the rest of the Oil Kings skated off the ice having lost game six of the WHL Final in overtime. Since then he's had an interesting few months. First the Oil Kings won in Portland the very next night to claim the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Then they went on to win the Memorial Cup. And then this fall he made the jump from junior hockey to the pro ranks. That's a good few months; I hope he's taken a couple minutes to sit back, relax, and enjoy it, maybe even smile for a change.

I love smiling

— Curtis Lazar (@CurtisLazar95) May 13, 2014

Projected Lineups

Edmonton Oilers

Ben Scrivens

Ottawa Senators

Craig Anderson

Final Thought

#Oilers defence pairings got you down? Here's the group from game 17 of last year. You might feel marginally better. pic.twitter.com/Muo0Q1SIJx

— Sunil Agnihotri (@sunilagni) November 13, 2014