Game Twenty: Edmonton Oilers (9-9-4) at Tampa Bay Lightning (10-7-2)

Time: 7:30 PM EST

Location: Benchmark International Arena, Located in Pete Alonso’s hometown

TV/Stream/Radio: ESPN+, Hulu, SN, 102.5 FM, Lightning App (audio)

Odds: Lightning -162

Know the Opponents: Oil on Whyte

What sweet sorcery is this? A rested Tampa Bay Lightning team gets to face a team that played last night? Usually, it’s the other way around, or at least that’s what it seems like. Yes, it’s true, the Edmonton Oilers are in town the night after facing, and losing to, the Washington Capitals. A couple of empty-net goals by Tom Wilson turned a 5-4 game into a 7-4 loss as the Oilers continue to tread water early in the season.

Of course, we’ve all seen this story play out before. The Oilers get off to a slow start, the Connor McDavid Wants Out stories bubble up, and then they rip off a ten-wins-in-twelve-games streak and next thing we know they’re in the Western Conference Final again. So, let us not take this team lightly even if their results aren’t what their fans hope for. After all, they do have the best player in the game in McDavid.

Now, one of the issues that they are facing this year is that, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins out, the talent surrounding McDavid (who is second in the league with 32 points) is a bit thinner than usual. As of last game he was skating on a line with 21-year-old (nope, not that one) rookie in Matt Savoie and late-summer signing Jack Roslovic.

The lack of depth is hurting their offense a bit. Despite having a power play that is clicking at 30% their overall goal-scoring sits 18th in the league at 3.05 GF/GP. At 5v5 they are averaging just 2.14 GF/60 which is 25th in the NHL so far this season. It doesn’t appear that they’ve just been unlucky in the finishing department as they are 27th in scoring chances and 31st in high-danger chances.

Good thing they have great goaltending to bail them out, right? (takes a quick look at the stats) Okay, moving on.

It would be a really good game for the Lightning to stay out of the penalty box. Even with their banged-up offense, they have the depth to compete, and possibly outplay, the Oilers at 5v5, but if they keep giving them chances with an extra skater it could lead to a long night. The Lightning penalty kill has been solid this season, and despite a little blip against Vancouver where they gave up two goals, have gotten the job done as they’ve killed off 85.7% of the opportunities against them.

Having a healthy Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel back in the line-up definitely helps, and against the Devils the duo was up to their usual tricks generating some offense despite being down a skater. With Scott Sabourin getting re-assigned to Syracuse, and based on the morning skate, it appears Nick Paul could be making his season debut tonight, possibly skating on a line with Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel.

Having him back makes the forward group a lot deeper and allows Coach Jon Cooper (who was also back on the ice after missing the last game due to personal reasons) to reunite the Zemgus Girgensons- Yanni Gourde – Oliver Bjorkstrand line that was playing really well prior to the rush of injuries. If the pre-games skate is an indication on how they will line-up tonight, Curtis Douglas will stay in the line-up and play with Dominic James and Gage Goncalves, a fourth-line that could have a little offense spark to it.

As we’ve seen in the past though, Coach Cooper may limit Douglas’ minutes and double-shift other forwards on that line, giving him a chance to match-up against the Oilers.

Defensively, Erik Cernak appears to be back after missing the last game, but Victor Hedman could miss yet another one. The patch-work defense did an alright job against the Devils by pushing a lot of chances to the perimeter, and could do so again as Edmonton has struggled to generate quality chances. Expect J.J. Moser to see a lot of ice time against McDavid tonight.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

Forwards:

Jake GuentzelBrayden PointNick PaulBrandon HagelAnthony CirelliNikita KucherovZemgus GirgensonsYanni GoudeOliver BjorkstrandCurtis DouglasDominic JamesGage Goncalves

Defense:

J.J. MoserDarren RaddyshCharle-Edouard D’AstousErik CernakEmil LillebergSteven Santini

Goaltenders:

Andrei VasilevskiyJonas Johansson

Edmonton Oilers

Forwards:

Matthew SavoieConnor McDavidJack RoslovicVasily PodkolzinLeon DraisaitlAndrew MangiapaneTrent FredericAdam HenriqueZach HymanMattias JanmarkDavid Tomasek

Defense:

Darnell NurseEvan BouchardMattias EkholmBrett KulakJake WalmanAlec RegulaTy Emberson

Goaltenders:

Calvin PickardStu Skinner