Edmonton Oilers (23-26-3) (6th, Pacific)

San Jose Sharks (28-18-8) (3rd, Pacific)

8:00 PM MDT

SAP Center

TV: Sportsnet

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Fear The Fin

Some light business before the game tonight:

• Al Montoya gets the start.
• Yohann Auvitu is back in the lineup for Andrej Sekera. Sekera took a puck to the head and is out for at least tonight.
• Drake Caggiula lost a few teeth taking a puck to the mouth and will miss tonight’s game. Mike Cammalleri is back in the lineup tonight.
• Keegan Lowe got called up too. If Sekera is out or any length of time, it absolutely would not shock me to see him in the lineup.
• Oilers needed to win all three of these California games in regulation to have a fighting chance at the playoffs this year. They’re 0-2 on the road trip, and it’s time to dim the lights. They’re fourteen points from the wild card position with 30 games to go on the year. I’ve kept up hope that the club would catch a little fire and go on a run, but we’re ten days into February and the club is simply not where they need to be.
• So now what? The wait is the hardest part. Mix it up a little. I’m not suggesting that the club put Iiro Pakarinen on the McDavid line, but maybe you try a couple of different things at 1LW that you might not have thought about before being nearly mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. The trade deadline will be here in just over two weeks, and the Oilers will likely be down a couple pending UFAs when it’s all said and done. Strap in, it’s going to be fun. The NHL Draft is only 132 days away.