Oilers v. Ducks - Lamentations 4:1-2

O how the games have lost their luster!
Even divisional rivalries have become dull.
Once precious tickets are now scattered in the streets.
Our heroes wearing the Oildrop, once idolized,
practically worth their weight in gold,
are now scorned by their own fans.

Edmonton Oilers @ Anaheim Ducks

Honda Center, 8:00 p.m. MST
Television: Sportsnet

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

Visiting Team Scouting Report: The Oilers just played Anaheim last Friday, and so I just wrote a little bit about how the Ducks have achieved success so far this season. As such, I thought it might be fun to talk some about the success of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Both players are having excellent seasons, and stand first and second in goals, assists, points, shots, time on ice among forwards, penalty differential (drawn minus taken), and plus/minus. Getzlaf is actually second in the league scoring race behind only Sidney Crosby. They're not doing it with cherry minutes either, as both players have a pretty balanced zone-start ratio, and they're obviously seeing a lot of the opposition's best defensive players. There are parts of Anaheim's success this year that don't look sustainable, but their top line is bonafide.

Expected Lineups:

Edmonton Oilers (26-41-9):

Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
Lander - Gagner - Perron
Smyth - Gordon - Pitlick
Hendricks - Acton - Larsen

Marincin - Petry
Klefbom - Schultz
Fraser - Belov

Fasth

Anaheim Ducks (49-18-8):

Silfverberg - Getzlaf - Perry
Maroon - Perreault - Selanne
Cogliano - Koivu - Winnik
Palmieri - Bonino - Beleskey

Robidas - Beauchemin
Lindholm - Sbisa
Allen - Vatanen

Andersen

By The Numbers:

• Taylor Hall had four points in last night's game against the Sharks, while Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had three. It was the fourth time in Hall's career that he's scored at least four points in a game, the eleventh time in Eberle's career that he's had at least three, and the eighth time that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has had a least three (including five times this season).
  
• Patrick Maroon started his pro career at the age of 20 with the Philadelphia Phantoms. He scored 54 points in 80 games during that first year. That kind of production from a player with very good size (he's now 6'3'' and just under 230 pounds) usually bodes well, but Maroon has been stuck in the minors ever since until this season. He's not exactly lighting up the NHL, but 25 points in 55 games is commendable, especially given that Maroon is playing just over twelve minutes per game and has one of the better on-ice shot differentials on the team. With a price point of just $575,000 this season and next, Maroon is now probably one of the better bargains in the NHL.
  
• The team record for most three point games in the post-Stanley Cup era (i.e. from 1990-91 until now) belongs to Ryan Smyth who had 39, but some of the current players are marching through the top ten, which now includes Doug Weight (35), Ales Hemsky (22), Shawn Horcoff (21), Taylor Hall (15), Jason Arnott (14), Sam Gagner (12), Jordan Eberle (11), Petr Klima (11), and Todd Marchant (10).