OILERS vs. CANADIENS
STREAM: 5:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet 360
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers begin a four-game homestand on Saturday night when they take on the Montreal Canadiens for the first of two matchups on the season.
Edmonton is returns to Rogers Place after a quick back-to-back road trip where they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Wednesday and lost to the Minnesota Wild by a 5-3 score on Thursday.
The Oilers jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Wild on Thursday courtesy of the powerplay, with Leon Draisaitl notching his 16th goal of the season and his 102 PPG of his career.
Joel Eriksson-Ek would tie the game early on the second, before a two-on-one between Connor McDavid and Draisaitl ended exactly how you would think it would, with the Oilers Captain notching the goal for his 19th of the year. That would be the last time the Oiler lead in the game, with Minnesota rattling off four consecutive goals before Klim Kostin scored his first as an Oiler with 3.7 seconds remaining in the game.
"I thought we did some good things tonight, and what I like is seeing our players compete and give it everything they have, and tonight our guys gave it everything they have but we just made a few too many small errors that ended up in the back of our net and it was too big of a hill to overcome," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said after the Oilers defeat to Minnesota. "We're happy to go back home and get some rest and get ready to take on Montreal because I'm sure it's going to be a good game."
Canadiens Team Scope
The Canadiens come to Edmonton riding high after a 2-1 victory down the highway over the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Montreal was backstopped by the excellent performance of Jake Allen, who turned aside 45 of 46 Flames shots on the night -- while another 23 attempts were blocked by his teammates in front of him.
Montreal was lead by tally's by 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slakovsky and leading goal getter Cole Caufield, who scored the game winning goal with his 13th of the season.
The contest saw the return to Calgary of former sixth-overall pick by the Flames Sean Monahan, who was dealt during the offseason to Montreal. The 28-year-old assisted both Canadiens goals in the victory.
"You get a lot of emotions coming up into the game," Monahan said after the game. "Once I stepped on the ice in warmup, I was pretty nervous to be honest. I was the most nervous I've been for a long time. I'm just happy we came out with a win."
Montreal's win over the other Albertan club gave them a three-game win streak on the road and a 6-4-1 record overall on the season.
By The Numbers
The Oilers have scored 24 of their 82 goals while on the man advantage this season... Only the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche have scored a higher percentage of their goals on the powerplay... The Oilers have allowed three goals or more in 19 of their 24 games this season... Connor McDavid leads all players in highest involvement in team goals, with his 43 points coming from 82 Oilers goals... Leon Draisaitl leads the NHL in powerplay goals from the start of the 2018-19 season with 80, 16 goals more than second place David Pastarnak....
Through 23 games, the Canadiens have doubled their win total over the same stretch as last season, going 12-10-1 in 2022-23 compared to 6-15-2 in 2021-22... The Canadiens lead the NHL in one-goal wins this season with eight of their 12 wins coming by a single tally... The Canadiens have been outscored 35-25 in the third period of games this season... Montreal ranks third last in the NHL in powerplay percentage at only 15.7 per cent... The Canadiens are second in the NHL in contributions from rookies, with their 28 points only trailing the Buffalo Sabres... Montreal leads the league in goals by players aged 23 or younger with 38 on the season...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR; Evander Kane (wrist) is on IR; Ryan McLeod (undisclosed) is on IR; Kailer Yamamoto (undisclosed) is on IR.
CANADIENS - Paul Byron (undisclosed) in on IR; Carey Price (undisclosed) is on IR, Jonathan Drouin (upper-body) is on IR, Brendan Gallagher (undisclosed) in day-to-day
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com
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