Winnipeg Jets (0-2-0) @

Edmonton Oilers (1-1-0)

Rogers Place - Edmonton, AB

7 PM MDT

TV: Sportsnet Oilers, TSN 3

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Arctic Ice Hockey

EDMONTON OILERS PROJECTED LINES

Patrick Maroon - Connor McDavid - Leon Draisaitl

Milan Lucic - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Anton Slepyshev

Jussi Jokinen - Ryan Strome - Zack Kassian

Iiro Pakarinen - Mark Letestu - Kailer Yamamoto

Oscar Klefbom - Adam Larsson

Kris Russell - Matt Benning

Darnell Nurse- Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Laurent Brossoit

WINNIPEG JETS PROJECTED LINES

Nikolaj Ehlers - Mark Scheifele - Blake Wheeler

Mathieu Perreault - Bryan Little - Patrik Laine

Shawn Matthias - Adam Lowry - Nic Petan

Brandon Tanev - Andrew Copp - Joel Armia

Josh Morrissey - Dustin Byfuglien

Dmitry Kulikov - Jacob Trouba

Tobi Enstrom - Tyler Myers

Connor Hellebuyck

Steve Mason

CANUCK’D

Edmonton fell flat in Vancouver on Saturday night by a 3-2 margin. Things looked very good to begin, as Kris Russell (!!) got the Oilers on the board early in the first. The game took a turn for the worse when Bo Horvat scored his first of two goals on the power play, followed by an egregiously poor turnover by Kris Russell while behind his net. Cam Talbot was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots, it wasn’t very much fun.

The Oilers look to get back on track against the Winnipeg Jets tonight. The Jets haven’t been very good in their first two games of the season. Just how bad have the Jets been? Let’s go to the tape.

The Oilers are saying

Last night (Saturday), we were way too loose, way too cute and the team that wanted to play gritty, hard and on the inside created way too many (chances) against us.

Source

That’s Oilers head coach Todd McLellan on his team after a 3-2 loss to the Canucks in Vancouver. Bo Horvat had a pair of goals (including the game winner) en route to Vancouver’s victory while Cam Talbot was chased from the net after allowing the team’s third goal on seven shots. Jacob Markstrom turned aside 33 of 35 total Oiler shots, and the Canucks were victorious in their season debut.

The Jets are saying

“Hockey is such a passionate and emotional sport. When things don't go your way, you might get a little down, and when things are going well you're going to get a little up. I think it's just a mind set of worrying about your next shift...That's all you can control. You have to refresh your mind set a bit each time things aren't going your way.”

Source

That’s Jets forward Andrew Copp on Winnipeg’s struggle out of the gate so far.

It hasn’t been a fun two games for Winnipeg. They get throttled by the Leafs 7-2 to open their season, only to go up 3-1 on the Flames this past Saturday. Calgary would respond by scoring five unanswered goals in the second half of the game to top the Jets by a 6-3 margin.

Things are volatile in the Jets’ net.

Have some of this

• The big lineup move for the Oilers will be the insertion of Anton Slepyshev into the lineup. Slepyshev’s ankle injury had kept him from most of training camp. He warmed up with a game in Bakersfield before getting the call up. Safe money says he’ll start on a line with Milan Lucic and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
• Drake Caggiula is out with an undisclosed injury. Look for Jussi Jokinen to flip his spot on the third line to cover. Zack Kassian will start at 3RW.
• WHAT ABOUT YAMMO? In a move that I'm not real wild about, the Oilers will bring Yamamoto back on the fourth line with Iiro and Mark Letestu. Let's see if he plays more than 6:33 with this crew. Good to see him playing, not big on how effective he will be on line 4.
• JET FIREPOWER: Winnipeg’s got some real scoring touch on their top six. Patrik Laine (38-26-64) had a very fine rookie campaign, while Mark Scheifele averaged more than a point per game last year (32-50-82 in 79 GP). Fresh off a new contract, Nikolaj Ehlers (25-39-64) is another firepower to watch. The Jets have scored five goals in two games. That’s not a blazing hellfire, but it’s not the end of the world if your defence and goaltending are in harmony. They’re not.
• NO SUGAR TONIGHT: Jets coach Paul Maurice is going to start Connor Hellebuyck in net tonight. The decision to stat Hellebuyck just two games into the year comes after Jets newcomer Steve Mason (0-2-0) is packing a .831 SV% and a 6.53 GAA through two. Expect Edmonton to counter with Cam Talbot (1-1-0, .912 SV% / 2.22 GAA)
• The Oilers will be missing defenceman Andrej Sekera (out til December/January) as he recovers from ACL surgery. Drake Caggiula is day-to-day with an undisclosed ailment. Winnipeg will be without former Oiler Matt Hendricks, who also has an undisclosed ailment.