OILERS GAME DAY
Five storylines to watch as the Edmonton Oilers return to Rogers Place to take on the Florida Panthers tonight (7 p.m., SportsNet/630 CHED)
1. Now What? The season has gone down the drain, but there are still 28 games left to play. Now comes the hard part, finding the motivation and determination to play hard all the way to the finish line even though there is very little left to play for. The long march to April starts now.
2. Home Road Game After a three-game road trip in California the Oilers can’t get too comfortable at home. They are only in Edmonton for one game, then fly back out on the road for three more. It amounts to one long road trip, seven games in seven different cities in 12 days.
3. Brave Faces Forward Drake Caggiula and defenceman Andrej Sekera are both doubtful for Monday’s game with the Panthers as they recover from facial injuries sustained after being hit in the face with pucks in Anaheim. There was some nasty damage inflicted and head coach Todd McLellan wasn’t optimistic when discussing their returns.
4. The Scoring Machine Don’t look now, but one of the hottest hands on the team is defenceman Brandon Davidson. He has three goals in his last six games, which is more than everyone not named McDavid, Draisaitl or Zack Kassian, who had two in San Jose. Edmonton needs production from the blue line and he’s doing his part.
5. Don’t Nap On The Cats The Panthers might be 12th in the East (remember that time they fired Gerard Gallant?) but they are no pushover. They had won four in a row, beating the Islanders, Sabres, Wings and Canucks before falling to the Los Angeles Kings on Friday. They are also 2-0-1 in their last three trips to Edmonton.
BIG MATCHUP
Oilers Power Play vs. Florida’s Penalty Kill
Florida’s penalty killing is middle of the pack on the season, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Over the last 32 games they are a stifling 85.5 per cent, allowing just 13 power play goals, which ranks them third in the league since Nov. 22. The Oilers won’t just have to worry about trying to score, either. They’ll have to be on guard defensively while on the man advantage because Florida leads the NHL with nine short-handed goals this season, five of them coming off the stick of Aleksander Barkov. None of this bodes well for Edmonton’s power play, which is 31st in the NHL and has given up four short-handed goals this season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Edmonton: PP 15.0 per cent (31st in league), PK 72.0 per cent (31st in league)
Florida: PP 16.9 per cent (18th in league), PK 79.7 per cent (15th in league)
INJURIES
FLORIDA: Roberto Luongo, G, (lower body)
OILERS: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C, (chest), Adam Larsson, D, (personal), RW Drake Caggiula (mouth, doubtful), D Andrej Sekera (face, doubtful)