Game Thread: Stars @ Oilers - On The Edge Of Eichel

The Arizona Coyotes have won two games in a row, including a serendipitous overtime victory over the last place Buffalo Sabres, who they'll face again before the season is over. Meanwhile, the Oilers are doing their best to mess up their shot at Jack Eichel, this time with a win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. Tonight, they match up against a Dallas Stars team on the brink of elimination from wildcard contention.

How to Tune In

The game gets going at 7:30 PM MT on Sportsnet One.

What to Watch for From the Oilers

Tonight is fan appreciation night, and what better way for the organization to treat their fans than by starting career minor leaguer Richard Bachman in net for this must-lose game. Bachman has seen the net on four different occasions this season, going 0-2-0 and posting a 0.854 SV% and a 5.26 GAA. Sounds like a pretty good bet to me, facing off against a very hot Keri Lehtonen who is 4-0-0 in his last four starts with a 0.945 SV%.

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What to Watch for From the Stars

The Stars are holding on for dear life in the standings. This from our friends at Defending Big D:

Speaking of traps, the Stars are in Edmonton tonight to take on the lowly Oilers.

Luckily the Stars survived with a shootout win, like they survived three different Buffalo Sabre leads the game before - also rather trap-like. Dallas has survived just about everything lately, winning four straight, seven of their last eight, and ten of their last twelve.

Final Thought

Here's an insightful post from Travis Yost on the shortcomings of the draft lottery system:

Words on why the NHL Draft/Lottery are terrible and need to be killed off. -- http://t.co/1n6lRjAjki

— Travis Yost (@travisyost) March 27, 2015