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The Nashville Predators continue their road trip tonight in Edmonton, where they'll face the Oilers for the 3rd time already this season, with their final match not until late March. So far, Edmonton has had the upper hand, beating the Preds 6-2 in Nashville last week, and 3-1 in Edmonton back in October.
Can the Predators strike back and reverse a recent slide? Let's find out after the jump...
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Tale Of The Tape
| Nashville (10-8-4) at Edmonton (12-9-2) | |||||||
| NSH Offense vs. EDM Defense | EDM Offense vs. NSH Defense | ||||||
| 5-on-5 | |||||||
| GF/60 | SF/60 | Shoot % | GA/60 | SA/60 | Save % | ||
| NSH Offense | 2.3 (18th) | 25.5 (28th) | 9.2 (6th) | 2.3 (9th) | 32.5 (29th) | 928 (8th) | NSH Defense |
| EDM Defense | 2.3 (9th) | 30.1 (20th) | 922 (11th) | 2.3 (18th) | 25.6 (26th) | 9.2 (6th) | EDM Offense |
| GA/60 | SA/60 | Save % | GF/60 | SF/60 | Shoot % | ||
| Special Teams | |||||||
| NSH PP vs. EDM PK | EDM PP vs. NSH PK | ||||||
| GF/60 | SF/60 | Shoot % | GA/60 | SA/60 | Save % | ||
| NSH 5-on-4 | 5.2 (19th) | 47.3 (17th) | 10.9 (18th) | 5.9 (16th) | 57.1 (27th) | 896 (13th) | NSH 4-on-5 |
| EDM 4-on-5 | 4.9 (11th) | 43.3 (5th) | 886 (14th) | 7.6 (4th) | 49.9 (13th) | 15.3 (4th) | EDM 5-on-4 |
| GA/60 | SA/60 | Save % | GF/60 | SF/60 | Shoot % | ||
While still a sub-par 5-on-5 team, the Oilers have fared better than the Preds so far, and have enjoyed solid special teams performance as well. While they may not be playoff-caliber quite yet (that blueline still stinks), Edmonton does appear to be turning a corner competitively, and aren't the pushover of years past.
Edmonton Oilers
The overall numbers above belie a dramatic split between home & road performance by Edmonton. As Derek Zona wrote over at Copper & Blue, the Oilers have been especially strong on home ice:
The difference between home and road play has created enough material for a year's worth of "home cooking" puns for Gene Principe. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' road woes have been well-documented, but he's not alone. In fact, outside of the team's veteran core, the entire team has been in deep away from home this season, as evidenced by the scoring chances thus far...
And yes, RNH may be struggling away from Rexall Place, but he's rapidly pulling away from the field in the NHLrookie scoring race:
This is the Oilers' first game back on home ice after splitting a four-game road trip:
Nashville Predators
After an entertaining victory over Toronto back on November 17, the Preds have been in a 0-3-1 slide that comes just as the team has enjoyed a healthy lineup. Despite finally having all the intended tools available, the forward lines aren't clicking, and the defense is a shambles outside of the top pairing.
Perhaps even more concerning might be the tapering off of Craig Smith's offensive production - might the rookie be slowing down as the grind of the NHL season takes its toll? Despite nearly identical ice time, his shots on net per game have declined from an average of 3.18 over his first 16 games, to 2.16 over the last 6.
Some may wonder if getting bumped off his line with Patric Hornqvist and Colin Wilson might be the cause here, but early on the Honey Badger was generating chances no matter whom he skated with.
Meanwhile on defense, word came down last night that groin trouble has kept Francis Bouillon at home, so it will be interesting to see how much responsibility Roman Josi takes on in his absence. The danger signs here are blinking furiously, as the strength of the Oilers is their talent & speed up front, while the Preds' vulnerability may be on the blueline right now, with Edmonton being able to match lines as they see fit on home ice.
Make sure to stay up late for our Game Thread, this could be a wild one, folks...
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