Edmonton Oilers (10-3-0), 1st, Pacific
St Louis Blues (8-3-2), 4th, Central
14 November 2021
Enterprise Center
5 PM MST
TV: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet West
Radio: 630 CHED
SB Nation Opponent: St. Louis Game Time
COSTLY
The Oilers put the pressure on the Buffalo Sabres late in the third, but costly errors proved to be their undoing. Dylan Cozens had a pair of goals for the Sabres, while goaltender Dustin Tokarski picked up the W with 33 saves for the Sabres. The Oilers had a pair of power play goals courtesy of Leon Draisaitl, but they were unable to capitalise further.
The fourth game in this five game road trip features a stop in St. Louis, where the Oilers will look to pick up a win and bring the road trip to .500. Can the Oilers topple Jordan Binnington and the St. Louis Blues?
Let’s go to the tape.
THE OILERS ARE SAYING
“We allowed them to score easy goals and we chased the game the whole night...There was some effort there, but we just didn’t play very smart.”
That’s Oilers head coach Dave Tippett on his club’s 3-2 loss to the Sabres on Friday night.
The Oilers looked like a team that were playing their third game in four nights. Costly mistakes on defence would allow the Sabres to get the lead while the Oilers had trouble making anything happen. Down 2-1 in the third, the Oilers didn’t get a shot until twelve mintues had passed.
THE BLUES ARE SAYING
We knew we were going to find a way to put ourselves back and find a way to win a hockey game. We came out strong and had momentum.
That’s Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly after his club’s 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.
The Blues dealt the Hurricanes just their second loss on the season after scoring a goal with under 3 minutes in regulation to break a 2-2 tie.
St. Louis feeling ten feet tall and bulletproof after taking down the Hurricanes, who were 11-1 prior to their matchup yesterday. The Oilers will get a crack at the Blues tonight after a road game in Raleigh.
HAVE SOME OF THIS
- RILEY SHEAHAN? There’s a non-zero chance the Oilers pick up Riley Sheahan off the waiver wire this afternoon, right? Sheahan (1-2-3 in 14 GP.) was put on waivers by Seattle on Saturday, and I think there’s at least a fair chance he finds a new home this afternoon. I was wrong about Blake Comeau earlier this week, let’s see if my streak goes 0-2.
- COSTLY: The Oilers played a pretty ugly game in Buffalo, but they did get six power plays to work with. Leon Draisaitl cashed in on two of them, and the Oilers could have picked up an ugly win if they didn’t shoot themselves in their own feet with costly errors. Cody Ceci had a hard time wrangling a puck at the Buffalo blue line which led to an Anders Bjork-breakaway goal. Duncan Keith ended up making a pass which ended up on the blade of Drake Caggiula through the neutral zone, Caggiula spotted Sabres youngster Dylan Cozens for Cozens’ first of two on the night. Evan Bouchard pinched and was out of position on Cozens’ game winner. Costly mistakes.
- POWER BLUES: Jordan Kyrou is leading the club in points through 13 games (5-10-15), and he’s found himself a nice place on St. Louis’ power play. The Blues are ranked second among power play coversion rates with a very lovely 34.4%. Only the Oilers (42.5%) have had a better conversion rate so far.
- NET GAINS: Look for Mikko Koskinen (8-1-0, .918 SV% / 2.59 GAA) to be back in goal for the Oilers tonight. Expect Jordan Binnington (6-2-2, .918 SV% / 2.58 GAA / 1 SO) for the Blues.
- BOTTOM SIX MAKEOVER? The Perlini - McLeod - Foegele line that ran in Buffalo was a refreshing change that resulted in a near 70% xGF on the night. The fourth line of Benson-Ryan-Sceviour hovered around 40, but there’s been at least one night where that number was literally zero.
- IT’S EASY TO FORGET ABOUT THE BEST: Leon Draisaitl picked up two goals en route to a 3-2 loss in Buffalo on Friday, but those two goals help pad his numbers to an even more incredible 28 points (14-14-28) in 13 games. McDavid (9-16-25) picked up an assist to extend his point scoring streak into every game played so far this year. It’s easy to see issues with defence or the third and fourth lines and completely forget that you have two of the best plyaers in the world on your roster quietly putting what could be record-breaking years together.
It’s an early one today. Can the Oilers pick up win 11 on the year?
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