Benoit Pouliot - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Patrick Maroon - Mark Letestu - Zack Kassian
Tyler Pitlick - Drake Caggiula - Anton Slepyshev
DEFENCE
Andrej Sekera - Matt Benning
Oscar Klefbom - Mark Fayne
Kris Russell - Adam Larsson
GOAL
Cam Talbot
Jonas Gustavsson
Letestu And Two Power Play Tallies
THE POWER PLAY GARDENS, FERTILE AGAIN!
Allowing a goal in the first minute of the game is so Oilers. They did that again, but they didn't melt like a stick of margarine in the microwave this time.
Mark Letestu scored twice for the Oilers on the power play in Winnipeg, and Leon Draisaitl had one of his own early in the second period to give the Oilers a total of three power play markers on the night. Three's a pretty good number to have when you're channelling power play goals, and it certainly helped propel the Oilers to their 6-3 victory over the Jets. Connor McDavid had three helpers 34 points (11-23-34) in 25 games. Leon Draisaitl had a pair of goals, Patrick Maroon had one, and even Benoit Pouliot got on the board as Edmonton doubled up the Jets.
Patrik Laine had two goals for the Winnipeg Jets. Patrik Laine's shot gave me cramps when I saw it.
Please be advised, there's a major lineup change this afternoon on defence. Let's go to the tape.
The Oilers are saying
Long-term lower-body injury for @drtwofive says Coach McLellan.
Nothing on what's going on with Nurse, other than he's out for a while per Coach Todd McLellan.
Mark Fayne will be in the lineup along with Andrej Sekera today, and it looks like Kris Russell will get some time back on the left side. "Long term" doesn't sound very good.
The opponents are saying
"We've got a couple big games left on this trip, but we're getting there...We're starting to put our game together. Hopefully, we continue that." Source
That's Ducks' forward Andrew Cogliano on Anaheim hitting their stride.
Edmonton held the top spot in the Pacific for a significant part of the year, but they've since dipped to third. They can reclaim second place in the Pacific over Anaheim with a victory tonight. Anaheim are winners of their last three, including Thursday's 3-1 victory in Vancouver.
Have some of this
Hopefully Davidson is really close to a return with Nurse's long term injury.
"Long term" sends me down the "months" territory of recovery. I don't want to think about it. The Oilers are right in the thick of things right now, and it's the beginning of December. Ack!
FAYNE: Nurse's absence alters the landscape of the defence quite significantly. Let's' start with Mark Fayne, who in the period of a week was sent down after being cleared, was called back up 24 hours later, and will be in the lineup tonight. Fayne has one game for the Oilers this season, and will likely be paired with Oscar Klefbom tonight. No sweat.
RUSSELL: Russell looks to be back to the left side for what I believe would be the first time this season. He'll be paired up with Adam Larsson.
GOOD REGRESSION AND THE NUGE: Often, we talk about "regression" or "regression to the mean" in a bad way. Sometimes, regression is good. Like, when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' 4.3 S% should regress to a slightly more plump 9 or 10%. RNH is sitting on 11 points (3-8-11) so far. He's got three goals on 70 shots. In other words, stop trying to trade RNH for some oars and a windsock.
Cam Talbot (12-9-2, .915 SV% / 2.58 GAA / 3 SO) will go for the Oilers tonight. Look for the Ducks to counter with Jon Gibson (8-7-3, .915 SV% / 1 SO)
Iiro Pakarinen (knee), Darnell Nurse (lower body), Eric Gryba (undisclosed) and Brandon Davidson (upper body) will be out for the Oilers. The Ducks will be without forwards Joseph Cramarossa (lower body), Nate Thompson (heel) and defencemen Simon Despres (concussion) and Clayton Stoner (lower body)
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