Oilers v. Islanders - 2 Samuel 1:9-12

"Then he begged me," MacTavish said, "asking me to put him out of his misery, for he was in terrible pain and wanted nothing more than to be traded. So I traded him for I knew that keeping him here wouldn't bring him to life. Then I took his jersey and I will hold on to it until the day he returns so that he can be properly celebrated."

But the fans tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news. They mourned and wept all day because they knew that the trade was just another indication that things weren't actually getting better. For it was on that day that a faithful soldier's soul had finally been crushed.

New York Islanders @ Edmonton Oilers

Rexall Place, 7:30 p.m. MST
Television: Sportsnet

The Race to the Bottom (It's Happening Again):

Visiting Team Scouting Report: This is Edmonton's second big matchup in the race for the bottom since coming back from the Olympic break. The Islanders have a tidy six-point lead, but that could close to as few as a manageable four or many as a virtually insurmountable eight after tonight. With John Tavares done for the season, Andrew MacDonald off to Philadelphia and Thomas Vanek now a member of the Montreal Canadiens, the Islanders are significantly worse than they were a month ago. A loss for the Oilers tonight will go a long way toward securing a top-three pick.

Expected Lineups:

Edmonton Oilers (21-34-8):

Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Penner - Horcoff - Hemsky
Perron - Gagner - Yakupov
Cogliano - Gordon - Brodziak

Visnovsky - Gilbert
Smid - Petry
Marincin - Schultz

Scrivens

New York Islanders (24-32-8):

Grabner - Nielsen - Okposo
Bailey - Nelson - Clutterbuck
Lee - Strome - McDonald
Martin - Cizikas - Halmo

de Haan - Hamonic
Hickey - Visnovsky
Strait - Donovan

Nabokov

By The Numbers:

• In the 49 games that Dustin Penner played with Anaheim he scored 13 goals and 19 assists for a total of 32 points, averaging just over fifteen minutes per game.
• Tom Gilbert has 27 points in 62 games with the Florida Panthers so far this season, and is playing just over twenty-one minutes per game.
• Four years after being traded at the deadline, Lubomir Visnovsky is still going strong with the Islanders, although he's been limited by injury this season. He has played in just 18 games, but has scored 7 points and has averaged over 20 minutes per game.