San Jose Sharks (17-10-4) @

Edmonton Oilers (14-17-2)

7PM MDT

Rogers Place, Edmonton Alberta

TV: Sportsnet West

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Fear The Fin

BREAKDOWN

Cam Talbot returned and the Oilers were able to shake their backup goalie curse in a 3-2 road victory over the oft-troubling Minnesota Wild. Edmonton got goals from Milan Lucic, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and a game winner from Jesse Puljujarvi. It’s looking like Puljujarvi might have finally got his card punched to get some power play time, too.

The Oilers are back at home trying to claw back to .500 on the season. They can do it with a three game win streak at home this week. Today, they’ll take on the San Jose Sharks in a rematch of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Can the Oilers keep the wins rolling in?

The Oilers are saying

"We think he's ready to go there and that he's earned that opportunity"

Source

That’s Oilers head coach Todd McLellan on Jesse Puljujarvi getting some sweet power play time.

I don’t like to stare, but the power play is no good right now again. 0/6 on Saturday afternoon and Jesse Puljujarvi gets the least amount of ice time in the show (9:49)? Let him rip some shots while on the power play, cause what you got there ain’t workin’ too good.

The Sharks are saying

"They've lost a bunch in a row, they're sitting here rested, they got whacked last game 7-1. All the things set up for them to have an 'A' game, and they did...They were outstanding early, and [Jones] gave us a chance to hang around. We found a way to get an important point on a night where we probably didn't deserve one.”

Source

That’s Sharks coach Pete DeBoer on his team’s performance in a 4-3 OTL against Vancouver on Friday night. Vancouver’s Sam Gagner had the overtime tally for the Canucks.

The Sharks are currently third in the Pacific Division with 38 points, good for eight more than the Oilers. Sharks are 6-2-2 in their last ten, and although they’re not scoring much of anything (they’re tied for 24th in the league with Ottawa at 2.71 goals per game), they’re doing a very good job of not allowing many (they’re second in the league at 2.38 goals allowed per game).

Have some of this

• FINALLY. This goes to show you that like the guy who shouts “shooooooooot” at the players while on the power play, if you shout about Jesse Puljujarvi and the power play at Todd McLellan, he will eventually listen. Really, there’s no excuse why Puljujarvi hasn’t been on the power play as of late. An 0/6 afternoon at the Wild finally helped make the move.
• LARSSON, SEKERA: Adam Larsson could be back by the end of the week. We keep hearing about Andrej Sekera, but he’s going to be a little longer.
• IN NET: Cam Talbot showed little rust in his triumphant return back to the blue paint and is expected to start (11-10-1, .905 SV% / 2.96 GAA 1 SO). The Sharks will likely counter with Martin Jones (11-7-3, .914 SV% / 2.55 GAA / 2 SO).
• POINT TAKEN: Connor McDavid’s 28th assist of the season put him at 40 points in 33 games. He’s right on pace with last year’s total of 100.
• SICK BAY: The Oilers are missing Andrej Sekera, (ACL), while Adam Larsson (upper body injury) day-to-day. The Sharks are without Logan Couture (concussion), Barclay Goodrow (lower body) and Mikael Boedker (lower body).