The Nashville Predators head to Edmonton to take on the Oilers this afternoon. The last few years have seen a sea change in the results when these two teams meet.
Pekka Rinne always seemed to have the Oilers’ number, but roster changes on both teams have made it much harder for the Preds to manage the win, or even the two points. This time, the Oilers enter on a fifteen-game winning streak: they haven’t lost a game since December 19th (to the New York Islanders).
Pred-killer Leon Draisaitl is second on the team in goals (22), assists (32), and points (54), and will no doubt be looking to add to all those numbers today. Connor McDavid leads in points with 63 and assists with 44, while Zach Hyman has the goals lead with 29. Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are also regular contributors on the scoresheet.
Stuart Skinner has played most of the Oilers’ games, with a sv% of .908, while backup Calvin Pickard has offered a .915 in his eight games.
The Oilers are actually very good this year. Gone are the days when a terrible team surrounding a handful of first-overall picks took the ice; they’ve combined a phenomenal offense, great defense, and amazing special-teams play at both ends of the ice (with the bounces to back it up) with adequate goaltending and okay shooting luck. Their win streak isn’t a fluke; they’re by far one of the best teams in the league right now.
They don’t really have surprises at forward, per se; saying that McDavid and his line have driven an outstanding amount of offense without being defensive liabilities is hardly even worth mentioning. Defender Vincent Desharnais has been quietly shutdown, and only has six points on the season to show for his excellent defensive work, while Connor Brown is the only player on the current roster who’s been a net negative in scoring threat–and only barely.
This is a genuine powerhouse team, and their midseason coaching change has brought out the best in the roster. They’ll be a challenge for anyone, and today that challenge is for the Preds. The game airs at 3PM Central on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game.
Statistics from naturalstattrick.com. Additional background from hockeyviz.com.