The Carolina Hurricanes will face the Edmonton Oilers tonight at PNC Arena in a rematch of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final.
Lineups and Game Preview: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Edmonton Oilers
The Hurricanes are coming off a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins while the Oilers are coming off of two straight losses in Florida both to the Panthers and the Lightning.
Here are my three keys to the game:
Keep it Simple
The formula has been laid out for the Hurricanes over the last couple of weeks.
Play simple, direct hockey the Hurricanes way = win games.
Start going rogue and playing your own style = lose games.
The Canes just need to get pucks to the net. The Oilers defense has been a complete mess lately and the goaltending would be lucky to stop a beachball at this point, so they really shouldn't need a lot of high-end plays to establish their game.
Simple, direct hockey can easily take advantage of the way the Oilers have been playing and get Carolina to the end with a win.
Defend the Blueline
A big key to the game will also be preventing Edmonton's top players from being able to generate off the rush. This means stacking up at the blueline with an active stick and a body if needed.
A player like Connor McDavid can really work some magic if he builds up speed and so conceding anything at the blueline will just work in his favor.
Maybe he makes a play on you at the blueline, but it's better to try and cut him off early then when it's too late.
The Canes need their defense to be active and engaged all night against the Oilers' top flyers and that starts with aggressively defending the blueline.
Let Svech Cook
Last season, Andrei Svechnikov scored two regular season hat tricks, with both of them coming against the Edmonton Oilers.
With Svech currently sitting at zero goals on the season, despite a wicked laser of a wrister over Tristan Jarry's shortside shoulder on Wednesday (called off due to the entry being an inch offsides), what better time to score than against your favorite?
Feed Svechnikov the puck early and often and see if he can conjure up his magic.
Recent Articles