Game Thread: Blues @ Oilers - Good Night Sweet Prince

With the announcement coming today that Jeff Petry will be a healthy scratch agains the St. Louis Blues, it's now clear that the stand-out blueliner has played his last game for the Edmonton Oilers. Here's to hoping for a large return.

Meanwhile, the Oilers will have their hands full against a very large, very skilled St. Louis Blue team that sits second in the Central Division behind the powerhouse Nashville Predators. The Blues are 5-5 in their last ten games.

How to Tune In

The game gets underway at 8:00 PM MT on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.

What to Watch for From the Oilers

Nail Yakupov will return tonight from a groin injury, and if he's able to play at the same level he was before sustaining the injury, then fans should have plenty of exciting hockey to watch courtesy of Yak.

Jordan Oesterle draws in for the outgoingJeff Petry, and he's a player the Oilers are rumoured to be evaluating as a potential longterm option on the back end. Tonight will be a great opportunity to see if he can hold his own against one of the best teams in the bigs.

What to Watch for From the Blues

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Our friends at St. Louis Game Time had this blistering review of the Oilers to offer in their game preview:

I suppose it goes without saying that playing the Emonton Oilers tonight, on the first night of back-to-backs, is the very definition of a trap game. The Blues will need to stay in the moment and focus on just tonight's game. There are two points to be had, and we cannot afford to squander any. If they don't shoot themselves in the foot, there is no reason we can't take this in regulation and move on to the next game tomorrow. The Blues have the right stuff to win this game. They can't take it for granted, though: every single game will need to be fought for.

It's no secret that the Oilers are a bad team; poorly constructed and poorly led. In the 62 games played this year, they have a record of 18-34-10 for 46 points. They are in 2nd place in the McEichel Division, behind only Buffalo with 43 points. At this point, I think even the jersey-tossers are done with the season. The fans are either resigned to being a seller again at the deadline, and/or have embraced the tank job that remains of the season.

Final Thought

Well, if the Blues trade Sobotka's rights to the Oilers for Petry, Sobe's never coming back from the KHL.

— Laura (@hildymac) March 1, 2015