GAME PREVIEW: Game 22/56 Edmonton Oilers @ Vancouver Canucks

Edmonton Oilers (13-8-0, 2nd in North) vs.

Vancouver Canucks (8-13-2, 6th in North)

25 February 2021

Rogers Arena

8 PM MST

TV: Sportsnet West

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Nucks Misconduct

COMEBACK KIDS

The Oilers dug themselves a hole on Tuesday night, but they had just enough shovels to dig themselves out. Down 3-0 with fifteen minutes gone in the first, the club got two goals from Dominik Kahun, another one from Connor McDavid, and a game winner that ricocheted off of Tyler Ennis to make the comeback complete. Mike Smith cinched up after the first period to earn his fifth win of the season, and the Oilers have won ten of their last twelve games after a 3-6 start to the season.

A win tonight will give the Oilers a two game sweep of the Canucks before heading to Toronto for the next three. Can the Oilers keep the good times rolling?

Let’s go to the tape.

THE OILERS ARE SAYING

“I’ve been in a lot of games where it can go one of two ways and I didn’t want it to go the wrong way...I just told myself ‘let’s just try to keep the team in the game here.’ I know we can score goals. I know we can play a lot better than we did in the first. And we showed that, and we got a massive, massive two points”

Source

That’s Oilers goaltender Mike Smith on coming back to defeat the Canucks by a 4-3 score on Tuesday night.

Things looked bleak for the Oilers early in Tuesday’s game. Fortunately, Smith shut the door after yielding his third goal and the Oilers profited on the score sheet. There’s a real chance that Mike Smith could end up playing two of the three Toronto games coming up in the next week.

THE CANUCKS ARE SAYING

“I’m getting sick and tired of having leads and giving them back and playing well in periods in the game and then not playing a full 60 minutes...Again, we did it tonight and it came back to bite us.”

Source

That’s Bo Horvat on his club’s 4-3 loss to the Oilers on Wednesday.

Sometimes an emotion is lost in a quote, but there’s absolutely no wiggle room on how upset Bo Horvat sounds after giving up four straight goals en route to another loss. It’s the second straight game that the Canucks have given up multiple goal leads, the club was up 2-0 over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday only to lose in OT. It’s got to be a frustrating feeling for the club that’s 2-8-2 this month.

HAVE SOME OF THIS

• The Caleb Jones / Evan Bouchard pair was successful in its first night together. If your second pair is Russell-Larsson, I don’t see how these pairs don’t switch ice time in the future. Hopeful to see Ethan Bear sooner than later so the Nurse-Bear pair gets back in action.
• Couldn’t think of a better time for Dominik Kahun to score a pair of goals than last game. Kahun’s two goals bring his total up to four on the season, let’s see if those numbers pop off a little more in the upcoming days.
• Tyler Ennis got credit for his pinball goal that ended up being the game winner on Tuesday. The goal is Ennis’ second of the year and sixth point in 13 games this season. Go the net, get rewarded.
• Alex Chiasson has five points in his last five games (2-3-5). I’ve been a frequent critic of his this season (I think Puljujärvi ought to get on PP1 full time), but it’s nice to score points. If you’re scoring points, good things are happening.
• NET GAINS: If each team uses their other goalie tonight, then it’ll be Mikko Koskinen (7-8-0, .901 SV% / 3.26 GAA) getting the nod for the Oilers, while Braden Holtby (4-5-3, .891 SV% / 3.51 GAA) is likely for the Canucks. Koskinen is coming off a game that saw him push aside 43 of 44 shots in a 7-1 win over the Flames. His season SV% has crept above the .9 mark, which is encouraging after he struggled playing the first ten games straight.
• SCRATCHES: Ethan Bear is likely due to return any day now. Willam Lagesson is day-to-day. Zack Kassiaan is week to week with a hand injury, Slater Koekkoek is out indefinitely with a collarbone injury. For the Canucks, forwards Justin Bailey, Tyler Motte and defenceman Travis Hamonic are day-to-day.