Tyutin - Nikitin
Erixon - Johnson
Holden - Goulobef
Bobrovsky
Mason
OILERS (8-9-4) at BLUE JACKETS (6-12-4)
TV: SNET-W, FS-O
Last 10: Edmonton 4-5-1; Columbus 3-5-2
Season series: Second of three meetings. The Oilers were outshot 40-14, but Sam Gagner had a goal and an assist, and Devan Dubnyk turned aside 39 shots to lead them to a 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Feb. 10 in Columbus.
Big story: Mike Brown makes his debut as an Oiler. ... While the Blue Jackets have just two wins over their past nine games, their overall body of work suggests improvement. They've won in Detroit and their losses include a pair of one-goal decisions to a Chicago team that still hasn't lost in regulation all season and one-goal setbacks to high-caliber competition in Anaheim and St. Louis. Those were all road games as well, indicating this Columbus team isn't getting pushed around by anyone.
Team Scope:
Oilers: This is the middle game during a run of nine in a row on the road for Edmonton, which started with an overtime loss in Chicago and a big win in Dallas before taking a step back with consecutive 4-2 losses to St. Louis and Minnesota. The Oilers sit in a three-way tie for third in the Northwest Division, only six points behind the first-place Canucks, but they'll need to start pulling out some of these games that have gotten away late if they want to remain in the thick of the Western Conference pack.
"We've got to play in their end. It's tough to get shots when you're playing in your own end and you're coughing up pucks in the neutral zone and you're not playing hard enough in the 'D' zone," said Gagner, who along with Magnus Paajarvi scored for the Oilers on Sunday.
Blue Jackets: In the Feb. 21 win over Detroit, a scary incident saw Columbus lose forward Artem Anisimov to an upper-body injury after he was involved in a collision that caused him to hit his head on the ice. Anismiov left the game on a stretcher, but returned to the lineup last Friday and scored in an OT loss to Chicago. He left Sunday's game for a stretch after blocking a shot, but returned to convert on a power play 2:26 into the extra period as the Blue Jackets prevailed 2-1 over the Avalanche. PA Parenteau also scored and Semyon Varlamov stopped 32 shots.
"We need to start winning," Anisimov told the Columbus Dispatch. "This is just the first step. If we can continue to play like this, we're going to be a dangerous club."
Who's hot: Jordan Eberle has assisted on four goals in the Oilers' past three games. Gagner has a pair of goals in the past three games. … Anisimov is joined by Vinny Prospal as Blue Jackets with goals in consecutive games. Nick Foligno and Mark Letestu have four assists in the past three games.
Injury report: Edmonton forward Taylor Hall (leg) and defensemen Corey Potter (head) and Mark Fistric (elbow) are day-to-day. Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin (groin), defenseman Andy Sutton (knee) and forwards Shawn Horcoff (hand), Anton Lander (foot) and Teemu Hartikainen (shoulder) are on injured reserve. … Columbus defenseman Nikita Nikitin is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Defenseman John Moore and forwards Derick Brassard are also sidelined with upper-body injuries. Defensemen Ryan Murray (shoulder), Jack Johnson (upper body) and James Wisniewski (foot) and forward Brandon Dubinsky (knee) are on injured reserve.
- Brian Hunter, NHL.com
Last edited by I am the Liquor: 03-05-2013 at 02:30 PM.
We'll have to wait and see what the lines look like tomorrow, i'd be surprised with yakupov is scratched but it wouldn't be the first time kruegs suprises me
I hope brown is in i wanna see some new players i'm bored of my crappy team.
Quote:
Originally Posted by I am the Liquor
Its all good. Plagiarizing can be fun, and it certainly saves time.
That's what i told my english teacher, but, but, she wouldn't listen.
But yeah thanks for putting it up i like the midnight GDT's
Said it in the other thread but I will flip if I see Smyth in the lineup and Yakupov scratched. Yak had his best game of the season against Minnesota, IMO. No matter where Smyth is playing he is absolute garbage. Krueger better be seeing this. Just because Smyth was pissed about being a scratch last time doesn't mean we should feel sorry for him. This team needs wins and it needs to ice the best possible lineup. Smyth is an anchor right now. Lines should be:
Hall - RNH - Hemsky
Paajarvi - Gagner - Eberle
Jones - Belanger - Yakupov
Few options for the 4th line..
Brown/Eager - VV - Petrell (Most likely)
Eager - Petrell - Brown (Petrell came over from Finland as a center)
Eager - VV - Brown (Which I don't see because taking Petrell out makes no sense)
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