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Sharks @ Oilers Game 73 Preview

Now what?

Scrivens surveys the land for orange and blue articles
Scrivens surveys the land for orange and blue articles



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Oilers3
46-18-9,  1.5 p/g Ranks 25-38-9, .82 p/g
Western Conference: 2nd Western Conference: 14th
2nd P/G 29th
1st ST 26th
6th ES 27th
4th Goal 28th
7:30 PM MDT - TSN
Rexall Place
The opposing view: Fear The Fin


Gong Show

The Oilers allowed an eight spot to Calgary on Saturday.  You might be hesitant to use the word 'disaster' in these circumstances. but "unmitigated dumpster fire" is probably a more accurate description.  The team is likely going to finish with fewer than 30 wins on the season, they're headed towards the draft lottery once again,  Oilers broadcasting legend Rod Phillips took to Twitter about how this game was "the low point" of the season,  players are throwing water bottles, and fans are hurling Oiler jerseys to the ice once again.  It's a good thing there are only ten games remaining in this regular season, I don't think anyone can take much more than that.

The Oilers are saying

"He got driven into the net off a rush and banged his head.  He wasn't concussed or anything, but I guess (he) sprained his neck.  He's going to go see the docs and if we have to call someone up, we will"

That's Oilers coach Dallas Eakins on the status of goaltender Viktor Fasth, who was injured after a collision with Anton Lander during Monday's practice.  The good news is that Fasth didn't suffer a concussion, the bad news is that it's more likely a "sprained neck".  Of course.

Laurent Brossoit will serve as backup to Ben Scrivens tonight.

The Opponent is saying

"He blocked a shot, I don't know if he will play tomorrow, but he's fine."
That's Sharks coach Todd McLellan on the status of Logan Couture, who blocked a shot from Calgary's Mark Giordano in yesterday's 2-1 shootout loss to the Flames.  McLellan went on to say that he's not sure if Couture will be back in today's lineup, but that he'll be "OK" whether he's in tonight or not.

Stupid Flames

Switch roles with the Flames for a second.  The Flames are coming off two big games.  They defeated the Oilers by a touchdown on Saturday, and they took care of these Sharks 2-1 in a shootout last night.  Their goaltending was spot on, their fans didn't hurl any jerseys over the glass (okay, that's not completely true).

The Flames aren't half bad this year.  They have a legitimate chance at hitting a Bettman .500 this year, something that the Oilers haven't done since 2008-09.  And they didn't have three consecutive number one picks, either.  I hate you, Flames.  I hate you.

Points Ales Hemsky Has Since Being Traded
  • 8 (2-6) in nine games.  Uh-oh, he's a bust.  What an enigma, or something.
Have some of this
  • This is the fourth of five meetings between the Sharks and Oilers this season.  The Oilers are 1-2 against the Sharks this year. You'll likely remember the last time these clubs hooked up, as Ben Scrivens stopped each and every shot in a 59 shot onslaught.  The two teams meet once more in April.
  • Ben Scrivens (6-7, .927) will start for the Oilers tonight. Please refrain from throwing articles of clothing onto the ice surface during play or otherwise. Ben Scrivens will throw them back at you.
  • Expect Antti Niemi (35-14-7, .914) to get the start for San Jose, as Alex Stalock got the start last night in Calgary.
  • Nail Yakupov and Jesse Joensuu will again be out with ankle injuries.
  • Anton Belov could get in tonight after being out with a torn oblique.
  • Per Sharks coach Todd McLellan, Logan Couture is a question mark for the Sharks tonight.
The San Jose Sharks

Joe Pavelski - Joe Thornton - Brent Burns

Patrick Marleau - Logan Couture - Matthew Nieto

Tommy Wingels - James Sheppard - Martin Havlat

Tyler Kennedy - Andrew Desjardins - Adam Burish

Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Jason Demers

Matt Irwin - Dan Boyle

Brad Stuart - Justin Braun

Antti Niemi

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Edmonton Oilers

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - David Perron

Anton Lander - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Matt Hendricks - Boyd Gordon - Tyler Pitlick

Luke Gazdic - Ryan Smyth - Ryan Jones

Andrew Ference - Justin Schultz

Martin Marincin - Jeff Petry

Oscar Klefbom - Mark Fraser

Ben Scrivens