2021-22 Game 29: Oilers at Kraken

This is the third meeting for Edmonton against the expansion Seattle Kraken. The expansion team had a record of 3-5-1 on November 1 in Edmonton, Oilers winning 5-2 on a big night (2-2-4) by Leon Draisaitl.

The second meeting was in Seattle, the Kraken winning 4-3 to run its record to 9-13-2, Edmonton falling to 16-6-0 in the December 3 contest.

Since that game, Edmonton (1-5-0) and the Kraken (1-3-1) have been floundering. This isn’t Ali vs. Frazier, this isn’t Bob Gibson vs. Juan Marichal, this isn’t Wayne Gretzky vs. Steve Kasper.

It’s an important game for both teams, though. The Oilers are a hurting unit, with Covid-19 sure to have an impact on the team’s structure and performance.

THE ATHLETIC!

• New Lowetide: 7 AHL trade targets that could immediately improve Oilers’ NHL forward depth
• DNB: How Stuart Skinner became Oilers’ ‘young goalie on the rise’
• Lowetide: Oilers still haven’t replaced Adam Larsson’s nasty edge and goal suppression ability
• DNB: Oilers’ 5-game losing streak highlights 5 glaring issues that need to be fixed
• Lowetide: If the losing continues will the Oilers make a coaching change?
• Lowetide: Oilers prospect Carter Savoie’s comparables, why he wasn’t selected for the world juniors
• Lowetide: Markus Niemelainen winning Oilers recall battle
• DNB: Ethan Bear is rising above and thinking big
• Lowetide: Tyson Barrie’s contract and skill set make his Oilers future uncertain
• Lowetide: Oilers may find inspiration from 1993-94 Detroit Red Wings
• DNB: Several Oilers issues coming to a head
• Jonathan Willis: Which Oilers are on track to make their countries’ 2022 Olympic hockey teams?
• Lowetide: Evan Bouchard’s first full NHL season a learning experience
• Lowetide: Analyzing Cody Ceci’s importance to the Edmonton Oilers and future deployment
• Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2021
• DNB: Brendan Perlini subscriber Q&A
• DNB: Oilers turn to Markus Niemelainen
• Lowetide: The Oilers won often in November, but is their roster built to keep winning this way?
• Lowetide: Is the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl even better than we think? A look at his stunning historic comparables

WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER

• At home to: PIT (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
• On the road to: SEA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
• At home to: LAK, MIN, BOS, CAR, TOR, CBJ (Expected 3-3-0) (Actual 1-5-0)
• On the road to: SEA (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• At home to: ANA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• On the road to: LAK, SJS, CAL, STL, NJD (Expected 3-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• Overall expected result: 8-7-0, 16 points in 15 games
• Actual December results: 2-6-0, 2 points in 8 games
• Oilers in 2021-22: 17-11-0, 34 points in 28 games

I had this as a loss for Edmonton, so much has changed since the beginning of the month the mind boggles. The Anaheim game will be a massive test, Dallas Eakins has that team playing exceptional hockey. Winning tonight and running the December record to 3-6-0 is important.

COVID AND THE LINEUP

Edmonton’s Covid-19 list began Friday with coach Dave Tippett plus forwards Ryan McLeod and Devin Shore. By 10am, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was added to the list, and later, Duncan Keith.

Edmonton made a series of moves, with at least one more to come today before game time. The club recalled forwards Cooper Marody and Seth Griffith from the Bakersfield Condors, placed defenseman Markus Niemelainen on the IR and Kris Russell on LTIR.

The current roster shows just five healthy defensemen but Slater Koekkoek can be activated. There’s an outside chance Dmitri Samorukov could be recalled but that could have been done yesterday.

It’s also possible, though not a certainty, that Mike Smith could be activated in time for this evening’s game. I’m not sure of the cap moves that would make that possible. There’s a lot going on in the Oilers management offices. Here’s what I think we’ll see tonight:

• Warren Foegele-Connor McDavid-Jesse Puljujarvi
• Brendan Perlini-Leon Draisaitl-Kailer Yamamoto
• Zack Kassian-Derek Ryan-Kyle Turris
• Tyler Benson-Colton Sceviour-Seth Griffith/Cooper Marody
• Darnell Nurse-Evan Bouchard
• Slater Koekkoek-Cody Ceci
• William Lagesson-Tyson Barrie
• Mikko Koskinen (Stuart Skinner)

BIG NIGHT IN BAKERSFIELD

Raphael Lavoie was floundering and the boxcars were decidedly poor as he entered the last AHL game before Christmas. He went 2-3-5 last night and suddenly there’s a spark. Edmonton has a plethora of young scorers who will begin to arrive next season, but Lavoie is first in line and is a real scorer. The young man scored five goals in 19 games last season, he has two in 19 games this season. Last night was a big deal.

Ilya Konovalov was effective in net last night and has now recovered from his slow start. His SP for the season is .900, but .946 in December.

Philip Broberg scored last night, a great goal to run his AHL totals to 1-10-11 in 15 games. From what I’m reading on twitter, Edmonton was unable to recall him last night due to cap issues.