The Oilers look for their second consecutive win against one of the league's lowest-ranked offences.
The Oilers kick off a four-game road trip today in the Motor City.
They should be feeling good as they enter Detroit, coming off a dominant 4-0 win over Pittsburgh on Friday night. They'll be facing off against a Red Wings team that's looked fairly middling to start the season.
The Oilers got just about everything they'd been missing to start the year in the win over Pittsburgh, and they surely hope that can continue against another veteran Eastern Conference squad.
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Viktor Arvidsson, Zach Hyman, and Vasily Podkolzin all notched their first points of the year on Friday, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Mattias Ekholm both picked up their first goal. Arvidsson and Podkolzin were especially impressive, and it looks like the Oilers might have something with those two flanking Leon Draisaitl on the second line.
The Oilers also received encouraging performances from their special teams, going 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the powerplay. Combined with a 27-save shutout from Stuart Skinner, everything was clicking for Edmonton.
Now, they'll have to show that that level of performance is sustainable, and not just the product of facing a Penguins team in free-fall.
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Luckily, the Red Wings aren't much more imposing. For one, the Oilers have owned them in recent years, winning four out of their past five matchups by a combined score of 27 to 18. That recent dominance has been led by -- who else -- Connor McDavid, with 12 points in those five games, including a 6-assist night in their last matchup.
While Detroit's 4-4 record and -2 goal differential paint the picture of an average team, a look under the hood reveals some real problems. Their five-on-five expected goals share is the second-worst in the league according to both MoneyPuck (41.65%) and TopDownHockey (39.3%), thanks to a truly anemic offence.
Star winger Lucas Raymond, fresh off a huge extension, has only scored one goal, while free agent acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko has only three points in eight games. For a team that's invested so much in their offence in recent years (Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Tarasenko, J.T. Compher, Andrew Copp), they just haven't been able to produce at even strength.
Where the Red Wings have excelled is -- somewhat surprisingly -- in net. The unlikely battery of Alex Lyon and former Oiler Cam Talbot has been excellent, having saved a combined 8.9 goals above expected already this season. Lyon has been particularly great, with a sparkling .940 save percentage through four starts and one relief appearance.
Whether it's Lyon or Talbot between the pipes for the Red Wings, it'll be a tough test for an Oiler team that's had some real trouble finding the back of the net -- their 11.3 fewer goals scored than expected is by far the worst in the league.
The Oilers got the game they so desperately needed on Friday -- now they need to start stringing them together. Taking advantage of Detroit's punchless offence is a must, as is finally getting some goals on the board for Hyman and Arvidsson.
The puck drops at Little Caesars Arena at 4:00 MT, on Sportsnet.
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