McDavid is back in the line up! The Oilers live and die by McDavid, to have him back in the lineup is a huge boost for a club starved for offence.
Oilers are taking on the Islanders for the 2nd time in a week. The last meeting in New York didn’t end the way the Oilers wanted, losing 5-2 to the other team in Blue and Orange.
Currently the Oilers are sitting 2 points out of last place in the west and 7 points out of the final wildcard spot. It is becoming a near impossible climb for the Oilers, indicating they will be sellers at the deadline, though it doesn’t look like the Oilers will make many moves at all at the deadline. It would be smart to cash in on Chiasson and Kassian while their value is at its peak. However, if you ship out those two players the Oilers roster will look more anemic than ever, possibly the worst forward group the Oilers have ever seen. Which is saying something considering the Oilers have Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl in the lineup.
The Oilers are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to the Arizona Coyotes, it looked all but hopeless before Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tied the game with the goalie pulled. The Islanders are coming into tonight on the second half of a back to back where they lost to the Calgary Flames 4-2. As they currently sit 1st in the Metro division they’ll want to get back into the win column as quickly as possible. Expect a strong game from them tonight.
Lineups (From www.dailyfaceoff.com)
Oilers
Draisaitl – McDavid – Kassian
Rattie – Nugent Hopkins – Gagner
Rieder – Cave – Chiasson
Lucic – Brodziak – Currie
Klefbom – Larsson
Nurse – Russell
Sekera – Benning
Koskinen
Lineup subject to change because their didn’t seem to be formal lines at the morning skate
Islanders
Lee – Nelson – Eberle
Kuhnackl – Barzal – Bailey
Beauvillier – Filppula – Komarov
Martin – Cizikas – Clutterbuck
Leddy – Boychuk
Pelech – Pulock
Toews – Mayfield
Lehner
Thomas Griess played last night so expect Lehner in net. Last time the Oilers played the Islanders Lehner was rock solid and shut the door on the Oilers. The Oilers will have to find a way to put up some goals tonight if they expect to win this game.
