Edmonton Oilers (1-4-0)

Chicago Blackhawks (4-2-1)

United Center - Chicago IL

630 PM MDT

TV: Sportsnet Oilers

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Second City Hockey

EDMONTON OILERS PROJECTED LINES

Patrick Maroon - Connor McDavid - Kailer Yamamoto

Milan Lucic - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Ryan Strome

Jussi Jokinen - Mark Letestu - Zack Kassian

Jujhar Khaira - Brad Malone - Anton Slepyshev

Oscar Klefbom - Adam Larsson

Kris Russell - Yohann Auvitu

Darnell Nurse - Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Laurent Brossoit

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS PROJECTED LINES

BRANDON SAAD - JONATHAN TOEWS - RICHARD PANIK

RYAN HARTMAN - NICK SCHMALTZ - PATRICK KANE

PATRICK SHARP - ARTEM ANISIMOV - ALEX DEBRINCAT

LANCE BOUMA - TOMMY WINGELS - JOHN HAYDEN

DUNCAN KEITH - BRENT SEABROOK

GUSTAV FORSLING - JAN RUTTA

MICHAL KEMPNY - CONNOR MURPHY

COREY CRAWFORD

ANTON FORSBERG

WONDERIN’

I’m wonderin’ when the Oilers will put it all together for sixty minutes for a win. They had forty decent minutes of hockey against Carolina on Tuesday night, but they went into the dressing room after twenty minutes down 3-0. Tonight, they’ll get a chance against a Hawks club that got beat up on the scoreboard 5-2 in St. Louis tonight. Can the Oilers finally shake their losing streak?

Let’s go to the tape.

The Oilers are saying

“We were good on the road last year, as a team. I think it can be a good thing for this group to get away for a bit.”

Source

That’s Oilers defenceman Adam Larsson on getting on the road. At this point, it can’t hurt. The Oilers have been outscored 19-8 since their opening night win against the Flames.

The Blackhawks are saying

“They always play well at home, and I think for the first time you try to withstand their start. They're always a good starting team. I thought we did a decent job of that, but obviously they took it to us the rest of the forty minutes. Not a good first two periods for us

Source

That’s Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane. The Blues put a whippin’ on the Blackhawks last night. They took ‘em down 5-2 on the scoreboard, but they controlled the game throughout. St. Louis had Chicago pinned, up 26-8 in shots after 40.

Have some of this

• Yes, Kailer Yamamoto is on the plane to Chicago, and there’s a safe bet he’s in the lineup. Leon Draisaitl and Drake Caggiula are also making the trip, but they will not be in the lineup tonight. Weekend bound?
• Ryan Strome was a bright spot for the Oilers on Tuesday going 1-1-2. Has he found a new home on the second line?
• NOT YOUR OLDER BROTHER’S BLACKHAWKS - Look, there’s firepower on the Hawks top two lines. But, they got worked by a Blues team last night in St. Louis, and they’re back in the saddle tonight against Edmonton. NOW IS THE TIME TO PUSH THEM OFF A LITTLE MORE. The Oilers are really hungry for a win, and a win will keep Mark Spector from writing any more articles about how arrogant the Oilers are early on.
• NET GAINS: A forgetful night for Laurent Brossoit on Tuesday, Cam Talbot will likely go tonight. The Blackhawks could turn back to Corey Crawford, but it’s a fair shot that they’ll defer to Anton Forsberg after Crawford got shelled last night.
• The Oilers will be missing defenceman Andrej Sekera (out til December/January) as he recovers from ACL surgery. Leon Draisaitl (eye/concussion) is out, while Drake Caggiula is day-to-day with an undisclosed ailment. The Blackhawks will miss Jordin Tootoo (upper body), Michal Roszival (upper body) while Marian Hossa is out for the season with an allergy condition.

This is a good chance for the Oilers to hop back into the saddle. A win in Chicago will brew all sorts of confidence heading into Pennsylvania over the weekend. A loss? Yeah, let’s not yet go there.