GAME PREVIEW: Edmonton Oilers vs. Nashville Predators

Edmonton Oilers (7-1-0), 1st, Pacific

Nashville Predators (5-4-0), 4th, Central

03 November 2021

Rogers Place

630 PM MST

TV: Sportsnet 1

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: On The Forecheck

LUCKY 7

A four point outburst for Leon Draisaitl coupled with a 27-save performance from Mikko Koskinen helped push the Oilers over the Seattle Kraken on Monday night. Draisaitl put up four points (2-2-4) while the Oilers also picked up tallies from Kyle Turris, Duncan Keith and Kailer Yamamoto en route to the victory. Mikko Koskinen kept the game from being a lot closer than it could have been while picking up his fifth win of the season.

The Nashville Predators visit the Oilers for a 6:30 start. The Oilers look to keep it rolling tonight as they look for their eighth win in nine games. Can the Oilers keep it up?

Let’s go to the tape.

THE OILERS ARE SAYING

“I think it speaks to the depth of our group that we can win in different ways...We can win on the power play, we can win with special teams in general, our goalie can steal one, defensemen are chipping in, our third line has won us games, so there’s all types of different ways that we can win a game. That’s a pretty great asset to have on a team.”

Source

That’s Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl talking about depth after his club’s 5-2 win over Seattle on Monday night.

It cannot be understated how important the power play is to the Edmonton Oilers right now. It’s so hot that you will burn yourself if you talk too much about it. The Oilers power play is so hot that they went 1-for-3 on Monday night and their season percentage went down. Spicy.

THE PREDATORS ARE SAYING

“We got unbelievable goaltending...I do not think we were even close to our best tonight. It’s tough to win in this league, and you don’t apologize if you win a game. We know we were not at our best but we found a way, and we got super good goaltending. We got these big two points.”

Source

That’s Predators forward Mikael Granlund on his club’s goaltending after yesterday’s 3-2 OT win over the Flames.

Preds netminder Juuse Saros put together a 38 save performance en route to his club’s fifth win of the season. Nashville is on a four game winning streak; their win snapped Calgary’s six game heater.

HAVE SOME OF THIS

• OFF THE SCHNEID: Bet that one felt good. Joey Daccord didn’t have a chance. The goal is Yamamoto’s first of the year, here’s to a few more soon.
• HOW LONG? All good things come to an end eventually, though the Oilers’ power play success shows no signs of stopping. They’re been very, very good so far this season, they’re clicking along at a 46.2% success rate. To put that into perspective, last year’s Oilers power play finished the season atop the league at 27.6. The Oilers’ power play success rate is almost 20 percentage points higher than last season’s. It’s feloniously good.
• HARD 17: After Leon Draisaitl’s four point night on Monday, both he and Connor McDavid are co-leading the NHL in points with 17 after eight games.
• STUCK IN THE MIDDLE: The Predators aren’t scoring many goals (2.7/g) It’s helpful to note that they’re not allowing many goals (2.75/g) per game either. Even though they’re on a four game heater right now, they’ve scored exactly three goals in each of their last three. If the Oilers get a couple of power plays, it could be trouble early.
• I GOT A FEELING: After much fanfare to start the season, the bottom six has been out-chanced by a fair margin over their last two games. Solution? More Perlini. Brendan Perlini will likely return for Tyler Benson after being held out the last couple of games. It’s high time for someone to get a shot in Devin Shore’s spot, as that fourth line is getting caved.
• TOP NUMBERS: take a look at Mikko Koskinen’s recent results: 5-1, .933 SV%, 2.21 GAA. He was seconds away from a shutout against Vancouver, but you know what they say about ‘almost’. With the exception of one game, he’s been top drawer since Mike Smith went down two weeks ago. Koskinen has yielded just twelve goals total in six games. Enjoy the ride.
• Is today the day Mike Smith comes off IR? Smith has been dealing with a lower body injury for two weeks now, though he’s been practicing with the club regularly.
• PUCKS, INC: Juuse Saros has seen the lion’s share of work for Nashville so far, but the Oilers might get a shot at Connor Ingram with the Predators on the second half of a back-to-back. A third round pick from the 2016 Entry Draft, Ingram (1-0-0, .943 SV% / 2.02 GAA) picked up a W against the Minnesota Wild with a 33 save performance just ten days ago.