There was a day, in the not-too-distant past, where a game like the one tonight would be circled in red, as a “scheduled loss”.
For years, the St. Louis Blues have run the Oilers show. To borrow an iconic saying from Alexander Pope, “who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel”? Translated: It seemed as if the effort put forth by the talented but grit-less Oilers would be inevitably broken by the grinding wheel of Ken Hitchcock and his band of brutes, so badly that one could be forgiven for wondering what was the point, really, if any? Over the long history of these two franchises, the Oilers have a paltry .477 PTS%. Not good, and that even includes the Oilers glory years, when Gretzky & Co. owned the Blues. The numbers in the 2010’s are considerably worse: 6-19-0, a stunningly bad percentage of 24%. Yoikes!
But in the last eighteen months, both franchises have been in flux. St. Louis shed some of its bulk, and has yet to effectively replace it with an equally effective attack. The Oilers, on the other hand, have added the likes of Milan Lucic, Patrick Maroon, Zack Kassian, Adam Larsson, et al, on top of Connor McDavid. Today, the gap between these two teams is much slimmer than at any point in my 15-year-old Oiler fan’s memory. In fact, the standings as they sit today have the Oilers at 16-12-5, the Blues at 17-11-4. And earlier this season, in a game considered a coming out of sorts for the new-look Oilers, Edmonton scored a convincing 3-1 at Rogers Place October 20th.
Tonight, it is a pair of much better matched-up clubs, both aiming to keep their playoff hopes intact, as Christmas approaches. In their last five games, the Blues are 2-3 after a weekend set-back versus Chicago, the Oilers 2-2-1 after the shoot-out win Saturday versus the Lightning.
Oilers Projected Lines & Pairings
Talbot
Lucic – McDavid – Eberle
Klefbom – Larsson
Maroon – Draisaitl – Pitlick
Sekera – Russell
Pouliot – Nugent-Hopkins – Caggiula
Davidson – Gryba
Hendricks – Letestu – Kassian
Scratches: Beck, Puljujarvi, Benning, Gustavsson (back-up).
OIL DROPS: No Jesse Puljujarvi again tonight. It’s a toss-up between him and Drake Caggiula right now, and clearly the coaching staff sees Caggiula as a guy more likely to help them win games. Caggiula’s ability to play more than one position and kill penalties are certainly edges in his favor. No doubt some would sooner have Puljujarvi in versus Matt Hendricks, but they are apples and oranges: Neither Puljujarvi, nor Caggiula (or even Beck) fits on the 4th line, or fills the specific roles (PK, Faceoffs, grit, etc.) that Hendricks does. Your mileage may vary. Eric Gryba will go tonight, paired with Brandon Davidson. That is an interesting call as Matt Benning has given Todd McLellan precious little to sit him over. One wonders if they’re being appropriately careful after the rookie took a shot to the head Saturday night? I believe in giving veterans with track records such as Pouliot a shot to redeem themselves, and it certainly gives Nugent-Hopkins better linemates than he had on the weekend. Tyler Pitlick gets a well-deserved promotion to the 2nd line.
BLUES NOTES: The Blues are great at home (13-2-3). Nail Yakupov is slated to play against his old team tonight, on the Blues top line with Stasny and Schwartz. Yak has six points in 20 games, and has been a frequent scratch. Vladimir Tarasenko is second in NHL scoring with 37 points. Guess who’s first?! The Blues have great special teams: Their PP is 7th in the NHL at 21.9%, and their PK second over-all at 88.5%. Only the Hurricanes are better on the kill. St. Louis has not had steady goaltending from Jake Allen this season, so back-up Carter Hutton gets tonight’s assignment. He hasn’t played in 16 days. Former Oiler Brad Hunt is expected to be a scratch.
Bruce McCurdy will have game grades later on tonight. Find me on Twitter @KurtLeavins
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