clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Oilers Look To Close Out 2016 With 20th Victory Of The Season

Oilers can topple Canucks for 20th win of the season, a feat that took more than a month longer in 2015-16

By Jeff Chapman
He's looking through you.
He's looking through you.
Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports


Vancouver

@
oilers logo black text
16-18-3, 37 points, .946 p/g- Ranks 19-12-6, 44 points, 1.19 p/g
Pacific Division - 6th Pacific Division - 2nd
28th Points / Game 10th
24th Special Teams 10th
30th Shots on Goal 6th
27th Goal 10th
8 PM MDT
TV - CBC, Sportsnet
Radio - 630 CHED
Rogers Place

The opposing view
PROJECTED
FORWARDS

Milan Lucic - Connor McDavid - Jordan Eberle
Patrick Maroon - Leon Draisaitl - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Benoit Pouliot -  Drake Caggiula - Zack Kassian
Matt Hendricks - Mark Letestu - Jesse Puljujarvi

DEFENCE

Oscar Klefbom - Adam Larsson
Matt Benning - Kris Russell
Brandon Davidson - Eric Gryba

GOAL

Cam Talbot
Jonas Gustavsson

A King's Ransom

Eric Gryba scored the game winning goal in Edmonton's 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. Pat Maroon opened the scoring early in the second period with his eleventh goal of the season.  A power play goal, it would be the only goal scored by either team in the period.  Nick Shore would even it up for the Kings at 1-all early in the third, but it would be Eric Gryba who would score the go-ahead goal after a scramble in front of Kings netminder Peter Budaj.  The goal was Gryba's first of the year, and it's a little bit nicer when it ends up a game winner.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would add an empty-netter late in the third, and the Oilers would emerge victorious over a tired Kings club.

The win is Edmonton's nineteenth of the year, and they'll try for twenty tonight against a Canucks club who defeated the Ducks last night in OT.

Let's go to the tape.

The Oilers are saying

A GAME WINNER, TOO

Eric Gryba scores his first goal of the season on a tennis swing.  Right place, right time, and perfect English.  If only Eberle can grab a few like this, it would help out his shooting percentage that hovers around 4%.

The opponents are saying

That's Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom on what the Canucks will need to do in order to take two points out of Edmonton tonight.

The Canucks defeated the Ducks in overtime last night, they'll try for three in a row tonight in Edmonton.

EXPERT ANALYSIS

If the Oilers can play teams that are tired every game from here on out, I think they'll be just fine.

Have some of this

  • LINE SWITCH: Andej Sekera will miss his second consecutive game with the flu.  Coach McLellan hopes for Sekera to be ready by Tuesday.  For the sake of the Oilers, he'd better be.
  • CALL UP - Mark Fayne is off the IR, and he's been rewarded with a free trip to Bakersfield.  Jordan Oesterle has been recalled in case things get silly out there.
  • Vancouver doesn't look like they're melting with an overall record of 16-18-3, yeah?  They're only a few games below .500, and the West has been fairly tight.  But, they're third worst in points per game, and they're a fat -21 in goals on the season.  Only Colorado (-44) and Arizona (-37) are worse in the West.
  • Cam Talbot should probably work in a nap will likely go again tonight for the Oilers (18-10-5, .919 SV% / 2.47 GAA / 3 SO). Jacob Markstrom will go for the Canucks tonight (7-8-2, .909 SV% / 2.65 GAA)
  • Iiro Pakarinen (knee), Tyler Pitlick (knee), Andrej Sekera (flu), and Darnell Nurse (lower body) will be out for the Oilers. The Canucks will be without defenceman Erik Gudbranson (wrist), winger Derek Dorsett (shoulder), defenceman Philip Larsen (upper body) and winger Jannik Hansen (knee).
  • #GOILERS