Game Thread: Oilers @ Blues - On The Road Again

Since the calendars were flipped to 2015 the Oilers have followed each loss with a win, and then each of those wins with a another loss. I may have fallen asleep for parts of the game on Sunday - it was a bit of a snooze-fest, especially early on - but I know that the final result was a loss for the home team. So that means that the Oilers are guaranteed to win tonight, sorry for spoiling the surprise.

How To Tune In

The puck drops at 6:00PM tonight. Catch all the action on Sportsnet West.

What To Watch For From The Oilers

The Blues are on a four game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 24-8 along the way. So what do the Oilers do to help slow down the St. Louis juggernaut? They dress Luke Gazdic, of course. Yes, rather than have an effective fourth line that can play in a shutdown role against a team that's firing on all cylinders right now, the Oilers have decided to saddle Boyd Gordon and Matt Hendricks with Gazdic, everybody's favourite 233lb boat anchor. I'm sure that'll work out wonderfully for them.

What To Watch For From The Blues

Another team that thinks they're better than the Oilers. From St. Louis Game Time:

St. Louis Blues

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When last the Blues saw the Edmonton Oilers in action, it was after Thanksgiving and in the middle of a 4-0-1 stretch that made Blues fans forget how much the team was relying on one line. The Blues won that game on November 28th 4-3 in overtime, a game that they should've won easily and had no business winning at all.

Since then, the Blues have hit some highs and some lows of uninspiring play. They seem to have figured out the concept of team play very well during their current four game winning streak, outscoring opponents 24-8. They played down to the Carolina Hurricanes' level in the first period Saturday night, getting Brian Elliott pulled after three goals on ten shots. Then they jacked up the level of play and won in the shootout.

Playing down to Edmonton's level seemed to be an easy thing for the Blues to do. Lessons need to be learned from the initial sloppiness of Saturday, and there's no reason to think that they haven't.

Final Thought

Re: Petry RT @jbfuzz1: Right now, he's Tim Robbins in Shawshank. Almost through the poo tunnel to freedom.

— Loxy.ca (@loxyisme) January 13, 2015