Oilers Fans, Get Ready For Offensive Fireworks Vs. Devils

Finn Marceau

Nov 4, 2024, 18:03

Finn Marceau

Nov 4, 2024, 18:03

Tonight's game is a star-studded matchup between two teams in need of a hot streak.

Perry Nelson-Imagn Images - Oilers Fans, Get Ready For Offensive Fireworks Vs. Devils

The season is only a month old, yet opening night already feels like it was years ago.

Both the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers have lived many lives over the past month. There have been ups and downs, injuries and disappointments, hot streaks and cold streaks. As they meet for the first time tonight, both teams have won as many games as they've lost and could be sitting on an offensive explosion.

The Devils started their season before anyone else, way back on October 4th and 5th with two wins over the Buffalo Sabres in Prague. They carried that momentum back to North America, winning five out of their first seven games and looking for all the world like the contenders they were supposed to be last season.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1ysOgVge_0[/embed]

They then dropped four straight, allowing 23 goals against in those four games. Maybe they didn't fix the goaltending after all.

One thing is for sure, though: these guys can score. They rebounded from their four-game losing streak by hanging six goals on both the Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks, and their 50 goals scored are the third-highest total in the league. Coming off a surprising shutout loss in Calgary on Friday, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the Devils come out swinging in Edmonton tonight.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi-Q-ZEPEwA[/embed]

Head coach Kris Knoblauch might not agree, but the Oilers could use a little bit of firewagon hockey right now. Zach Hyman, Viktor Arvidsson, and Jeff Skinner seem to be shaking off their snakebitten starts to the season, with four goals between them over the past two games. Toss in Leon Draisaitl's six points in that span, and it feels like the dam is finally bursting for a team that couldn't buy a goal in October.

Much like the Devils, the Oilers have struggled with uneven goaltending to start the season. Calvin Pickard will get the start for Edmonton tonight in the second game of a back-to-back, and he's coming off three consecutive wins with save percentages over .920. That hot streak brings his season SV% all the way up to... .897.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HGae39t-aA[/embed]

Pickard is clearly earning more trust from the Oilers coaching staff, but he is by no means a sure thing in net.

The Devils will likely counter with a familiar foe for the Oilers in Jacob Markstrom. While Markstrom owned the Oilers as a Canuck, his numbers in the Battle of Alberta were dreadful. He went 6-11-0 with an .885 SV% against Edmonton in four seasons with the Calgary Flames, plus a five-game playoff loss in 2022 where he allowed more than five goals per game.

If not, it'll be Jake Allen and his .876 save percentage.

Markstrom has had a couple of clunkers in New Jersey, but all in all, he's been solid, with a .907 save percentage. He'll need to be tonight, because this is a star-studded matchup, even without Connor McDavid on the ice.

Nico Hischier is one of only four players with more goals (10) than Leon Draisaitl (9) this season, and he's probably not even their best player (hello, Jack Hughes). Zach Hyman and Timo Meier are two of the best modern power forwards in the game. Evan Bouchard can look across the ice to see his original model in Dougie Hamilton, and Viktor Arvidsson can even do a pretty good Jesper Bratt impression.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p472TlY3kHU[/embed]

Still only 26th in league scoring to start the year, the past few games have seen the Oilers start to find their vaunted offensive game again, especially at even strength. To continue their rally in the absence of their captain, they'll need to fully awaken to overpower the Devils in what should be a heavyweight matchup.

Tonight's game gets started at 6:30 PM MT, streaming only on Amazon Prime.

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