Game Thread: Oilers vs Rangers

The Oilers have started another losing streak and the Rangers are suffering from the mumps. Who is worse off?

How To Tune In

Sportsnet West. 4 PM. Change the channel between periods to avoid the worst intermission show ever conceived.

What To Watch For From The Oilers

The defense is still a mess and getting worse. Mark Fayne is suffering from some sort of injury which is limiting his minutes. Oscar Klefbom is out with a foot injury of some kind and Brad Hunt is up, but not drawing in. That leaves Keith Aulie, Brandon Davidson, injured Mark Fayne, Andrew Ference, Jeff Petry, and Justin Schultz. The Rangers are more worried about the mumps than this defense.

What To Watch For From The Rangers

New York Rangers blog Blueshirt Banter

New York Rangers

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BSB has a by-the-numbers preview up. From their standpoint, the key to the game is watching the Oilers choke early:

They each get slaughtered in the high probability areas of the ice (Sv%H). And, while Edmonton actually does ok at limiting the volume of high probability shots, they give up a lot of pressure early in games, and the goalies yield the goals from those areas.

Projected Lineups

Edmonton Oilers

Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Teddy Purcell
Nail Yakupov - Leon Draisaitl - Jordan Eberle
David Perron - Mark Arcobello - Tyler Pitlick
Luke Gazdic - Matt Hendricks - Steven Pinizzotto

Andrew Ference - Justin Schultz
Keith Aulie - Jeff Petry
Brandon Davidson - Mark Fayne

Ben Scrivens

New York Rangers

Rick Nash - J.T. Miller - Mats Zuccarello
Tanner Glass - Derek Stepan - Martin St. Louis
Carl Hagelin - Kevin Hayes - Lee Stempniak
Chris Kreider - Dominic Moore - Jesper Fast

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Dan Boyle
John Moore - Kevin Klein

Cam Talbot

Final Thought

So Oilers will rely on Matt Hendricks and Tyler Pitlick for net front presence on PP. Not enough skill guys willing to do the dirty work.

— Robin Brownlee (@Robin_Brownlee) December 15, 2014