Pre-Game Report: Edmonton Oilers vs Florida Panthers

Pre-Game Report: Edmonton Oilers vs Florida Panthers

Hello Oilers fans, Austin here and welcome to today’s pregame report where the Emmonton Oilers are going to be taking on the Florida Panthers for the first time since game six of the Stanley Cup final. In fact, this absolute juggernaut, this absolute nightmare of a team has defeated our Edmonton Oilers two years in a row in the Stanley Cup finals and I love what this matchup could bring for the Oilers on an emotional level. I’ve talked a lot about their emotions the last couple games. They’re playing for each other. they’re more engaged. Uh we have Darnell Nurse sticking up for teammates and tonight is going to be one of those games where emotions are going to be extra elevated and because of how high these emotions could get and I think the team acknowledges is likely going to happen on the ice, the Oilers have called up Connor Clattenburg from Bakersfield. Now Connor Clattenberg of course is not here to provide offense. He is here to provide energy. He’s here to hit everything that moves. And if the timing works out for him, drop the gloves with someone on the Panthers. But Clattenberg’s got to be careful. There’s a lot of players on Florida who are seasoned vets when it comes to fighting. And Connor Clattenberg, yes, he has fought uh quite a few opponents down in Bakersfield, but it’s a little bit different when you’re at the NHL level as opposed to fighting guys in the AHL. Now, some people might argue the AHL players that fight are actually like more goonish than in the NHL cuz you have to actually play in the NHL. You have to actually know how to play hockey up here. You have to score goals. You have to be able to play five on five. You can’t give up a lot of scoring chances when you’re out there. And Carter Clattenberg doesn’t really fit the mold of what I would imagine Chris Nlock is usually preaching to his team. Uh he has been pretty vocal about, you know, he doesn’t mind physicality as long as you’re not chasing the hit, as long as you’re not taking yourself out of position to make the hit. I’m very curious to see how Connor Clattenberg does tonight. He will be wearing number 64, which the Oilers have not seen since Nail Yakpov’s rookie year when he wore number 64 that year. That was very, very fun. N64 for those of you who remember that. Um, those were dark times. We were just trying to find anything that made us happy back in those days. If you enjoyed today’s pregame report, make sure to hit that like button. If you really like it, make sure to subscribe to the channel. And friendly reminder, I will be doing a live stream tonight. Live stream commentary tonight for the Oilers and Panthers. And I think it’s going to be an absolute doozy. So, as always in these pregame reports, I’ll be going over the projected lineup for the Oilers, the stats for both teams, how they match up against each other head-to-head, keys to the game, players to watch, score prediction. Let me know all of your thoughts in the comments section below. Keep that conversation going down below. Let’s check out the projected lineups for the Mton Oilers now that Clattenburg is up from Bakersfield. So, on the top line, looks like Seavoi McDavid and Rosik are staying intact. Now, Seavoy, like I’ve mentioned in a couple videos in a row now, he is not getting on the score sheet, but I really like what he brings to that top six. I like what he brings when he plays with Conor McDavid. He is very hard on the forche. He’s very responsible defensively, good with his stick, and he he cuts off angles so fast. He keeps pressure alive in the offensive zone with his speed and he he just when defenders are trying to make a play, Seavoy is just all over them like a bee. All right, so Matthew Seavoy, I like his game next to McDavid. And of course, Jack Rosvik, one of the hottest players on the team right now. Did not factor in the scoring against Tampa, but uh don’t be surprised to see Rosik maybe step up here and pot a goal tonight. Of course, Conor McDavid. We’re all going to be watching see what his type of play against Florida is going to be. Is it going to be an angry McDavid or is it going to be a McDavid that is just focusing on the score sheet tonight and trying to get the boys a big win to finish 500 on the road trip? That would be huge, right? So we’ll see what the captain has in store for his game. On the second line, Pod Coulson with Dry Cidle and Mapani. Pod Coulson, he’s been looking like he’s wanting to fight someone for a couple games now. He’s been getting into things after whistles and he’s just been playing some angry hockey lately. He his the hits that he’s throwing are just absolutely booming. And don’t be surprised to see Pud Coulson maybe pick a number tonight and try and go with someone as well. I don’t think that this is going to be a like line brawl situation, but don’t be surprised if there’s a few players that, you know, these teams hate each other. And there are multiple players on both sides that are probably willing to go with each other after losing two years in a row to the Panthers and the Panthers beating Edmonton two years in a row and then all the trolling that the Panthers players did when it came to their uh off ice celebrations with their their Stanley Cup. Listen, don’t think that is not in the minds of a lot of Edmonton Oilers players, especially their leadership group. Don’t be surprised to see a big game from McDavid and dry settle tonight. Third line, Frederick, Henrik, and Heyman, of course, Trent Frederick, he scored against Tampa. He looked better in the game before against Tampa as well against Washington. Looks like Trent Frederick, right? If this is the start to get his season turned around, I’m all for it. The first 22 games were disappointing, but what are you going to do for the next 60 games? There’s a long season still ahead here for Trent Frederick. It would be very nice to see him very engaged early. And if he can provide secondary scoring, that’s a bonus. Zack Heyman is on that third line as well. Don’t think Heyman is not going to be going out and banging as many bodies as he can. Of course, Zach Heyman did not get to play against the Florida Panthers in this year’s Stanley Cup final because of his broken wrist that he suffered against the Stars in the conference final. So, Zack Hyman, he is going to have a lot of emotion as well, a lot of heart in his game tonight. And whatever the team needs from him, he’s going to go out and do it. And don’t be surprised if there’s a little bit of blood drawn by Zack Heyman here. On the fourth line, this is where you have Connor Clattenberg. He’s with David Tomasek and Matias Yanmark. Now, Tomasek, I’ve liked his game overall at five on five. He did score a goal against Washington. Uh Tomasek provides a lot of different things. He does a lot of little things on the ice that I really enjoy. He’s probably never going to produce at a decent level in the NHL, but he’s never going to be a problem when he’s on the ice as long as you give him good teammates. Now, Clattenberg, he’s not out there to provide offense tonight. Connor Clattenberg, I don’t even know how much ice time he’s going to get. He may only get two or three shifts, but what is he going to do with those shifts and will that affect the game in a positive way for Edmonton? Very, very curious to see how they utilize Clattenburg tonight with Tomasek and Yanmark. The team is already kind of beat up right now. Right now they don’t have Noah Phelp who they placed on LTIR. That allowed the Oilers just enough cap space to call up Clattenburg. Waldman was not on the ice for morning skate. He like he unlikely sorry he likely does not play tonight is what I’m trying to say. Took a puck off the foot. He took a couple hard hits against the Lightning. He couldn’t finish that game against Tampa. So I’m not surprised that Walman potentially is out tonight. Curtis Lazar is out. Ryan Njen Hopkins is out. Uh for Clattenberg, Tomasic, Yanmark, just don’t get scored against and see what you can provide on an emotional level for the team. On defense, you have Ekholm reunited with Evan Bushar, Nurse with Regula, and of course, Koulak with Emerson in the absence of Walman. I don’t mind that they’ve gone back to these pairs. Nurse and Regula did have some success earlier in the season together. So, they got to find a way here, right? You got to just play as a team, play together, and play for each other. Stuart Skinner gets the start. I know a lot of fans wanted Calvin Picker to get the start, but Stu is still technically their starter and Calvin Pickard still statistically is one of the worst goalies in the NHL despite his great play against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Let’s see what Steuart Skinner can do tonight. We’re going to need some dark stew energy. If the Oilers have any chance of coming out with a win now, when it comes to the stats, the head-to-head matchup here, Florida, they are 118 and one. They are fifth in the Atlantic division. They are 63-1 in their last 10 games. Their power play they rank 16th. Their penalty kill they rank 20th in the league. Goals per game 23rd. Goals against per game 14th which isn’t too bad. Expected goals for percentage they rank seventh. Shots for percentage they rank ninth. And their team save percentage at five on five ranks 18th. The story for the Florida Panthers so far this season has just been trying to make sure that their game is up to standard without Barov and without Kachchuck. Two of their best players and two of their best offensive players as well. Well, that would be like if the Oilers did not have Dry Cidle and Heyman in the lineup, right? Like there’s a lot there’s a lot missing from Florida’s lineup when it comes to their goal scoring abilities. Now, they do have guys that are producing well. Brad Marshian, 13 goals on the year. He’s having an unbelievable season for them. But Florida is still a very good team. Even though they’re not scoring as much right now, they’re still a very good team at five on five. They control a lot of the play. They get a lot of scoring chances and their expected goals reflects that, their expected goals percentage. So for the Oilers, just because Florida’s short-handed is does not mean that Florida is an easy team to play against. In fact, I would argue that makes them much harder to play against because of the guys that they have in the lineup to try and make up for those bodies that are missing. Now for the Oilers, they are 99 and five. They are fifth in the Pacific Division and they are 35 and two in their last 10 games. Power play ranks third. Penalty kill ranks eighth, which is fantastic. Their special teams have been phenomenal all season long. If the Oilers are to get a power play or two tonight, hopefully they do, uh they got to make sure they capitalize on it because their five on five goal differential is the worst in the league and they’ve also given up the most goals against a five on five. They have to start playing much better at even strength here. The Oilers scored 2.96 goals per game, which ranks 20th. They give up 3.57 goals per game, which ranks 28th. Expected goals percentage ranks 23rd. Not very good when it comes to the possession metrics. shots forward percentage ranks 10th and their team save percentage at five on five even despite Calvin Pickard’s heroics the other night against Tampa still ranks absolutely dead last 87.55%. And this little fun stat that I kept having up on the screen. The Oilers were undefeated when they get a 900 save percentage. Well, they have now lost a game in overtime. Calvin Pickard put up a 943 and the team was not able to pick up the win. That was an offensive issue for Edmonton. Uh, obviously the goalending was more than good enough. If you got a 940 every night, you’re winning 65 out of 82 games. Probably not asking for a 943. We’re just asking for 900. That gives the team a chance. Let’s see if the offense can pick it up for the goalie tonight if they can get a 900 save percentage for them. Now, when it comes to the keys to the game for the Mton Oilers, keep the flame burning. Well, what do I mean by that? the flame. What I mean is the emotion, the the the um the inspired hockey that it looks like they’ve played for two games in a row now. They are playing for each other and they have to keep playing for each other. Bond as a group, right? If you get the win, there’s a lot of positives you can take from the road trip with a win tonight. It would go a long way for the mental side of the game and for the mental side of this team knowing that they only have two games in the next week here. They got time off. They can be in their own bed. Um, but you got to focus on the task at hand here. So, do whatever it takes to get the job done. Whatever it takes, right? Whatever bruises they’re dealing with, whatever injuries they may have, however tired they may be, whatever it takes, find a way tonight. It’s going to be an emotional game. It’s going to be a highpaced game, just like the Tampa game was. Emmonton’s got to be ready to go at puck drop. For Florida, their their keys to the game here. Number one, after whistle shenanigans, they are going to try and go to the Oilers into nonsense. Absolute nonsense after every whistle. Now, the Oilers have players that can get involved here, but it it’s it’s definitely a mental game right now with Florida and Florida has beat two years in a row in the finals. Florida, get Edmonton off their game after whistle after whistle shenanigans. Get the Oilers off their game. I can’t even imagine the type of trash talk that’s going to be going on on the ice between players on both sides, especially for the team that is the back-to-back champs. They have all the all the ammo in the world to send towards Edmonton’s bench. So, it’s going to be a very interesting game tonight on the ice and also for Florida. Hit everything that moves. If Florida is very physical against the Oilers, uh it will take Edmonton off their game. The Oilers, of course, like I said, there’s a lot of bodies that they’re dealing with that are kind of banged up right now. Florida can make it even worse and even more painful, even more annoying to deal with if they had everything that moves. My players to watch, Connor Clattenburgg for the Oilers, Brad Marshian for the Florida Panthers. I picked Clattenburg because it’s his first National Hockey League game. And I want to see what he’s bringing to the table here for the boys in front of him and around him. Brad Marshian for the Panthers. He is their leading goal and point scorer right now. And he is the heart and soul of their team. He’s the heartbeat and he’s going to be involved in everything tonight. Whether it’s fights, whether it’s after whistle shenanigans, trash talking, goal scoring, Brad Marshan will be involved on every part of the ice. Now, a quick game note before I get into the score prediction. A win tonight would give Em 33 and one to end their longest road trip of the season. And six of their next eight games are at home. That’s where they can make up a lot of these, you know, we’ll call it lost points in the standings. But a win tonight goes a long way. A loss, two wins on a seven-game road trip with a loss tonight, completely unacceptable. But a win 500, I can accept that as a fan. This is a long, grueling road trip. Let’s see if they can get the job done. When it comes to my score prediction, what am I going with? I think we’re going to have an absolutely fantastic game, an exciting game, and I think your Oilers are going to come out on top 4-3 in overtime with a Clattenburgg fight. That is my game day prediction here. Oilers win, Clattenberg fight. It’s going to go to overtime and I imagine there’s going to be more than one fight in this game as well. I’m very much looking forward to the game. I’m very much looking forward to the live stream tonight. It’s been a little bit since I’ve seen everyone. I haven’t done a live stream in about a week or so. So, I think it was last Saturday against Carolina was my last one. So, I’m excited to see you all there. It’s going to be so much fun. Panthers fans, I know you’re also excited to come into the chat tonight. I look forward to that as well. Uh I will have the cat cam back up so you can kind of see Mochi in the background up by my window there. She’ll be hanging out. Kitty Kitty’s going to be hanging out and maybe even Franklin will make a stop into the live stream tonight as well. I appreciate and love all of you. I can’t wait for the game. Tell them that you love them. And as always, fight like a kid. Fight like Ben. Let’s go Oilers. I’ll see you tonight, 5:00 p. p.m. Alberta time. Let’s go.

It’s a Stanley Cup Final rematch between Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers as they take on Brad Marchand and the Florida Panthers tonight. Connor Clattenburg gets the call from Bakersfield and will play in his first NHL game of his career. Clattenburg brings physicality and energy for an Oilers team desperate for energy at the end of this grueling road trip. Austin Hockey breaks it all down in today Pre-Game Report with projected lines, stats, keys to the game, players to watch and more! #oilers #edmontonoilers #nhl

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