OILERS vs. BLUES:
AT THE MORNING SKATE
After coming away with wins in all three games on the recent eastern Canadian road swing, the Oilers return home to begin a six-game homestand tonight against the struggling St. Louis Blues.
Having enjoyed a day off Friday following the team’s impressive 5-0 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Oilers got back to work this morning with a 30-minute skate to prepare for the imminent Saturday night clash.
The lines and defensive pairings that have resulted in the recent success will remain intact, aside from one small change on the fourth line where physical forward J-F Jacques will be inserted in place of Steve MacIntyre.
Nikolai Khabibulin, fresh off a stunning shutout performance Thursday night against Toronto, will again get the nod between the pipes.
HOME COOKING
With the group basking in the glory of a clean sweep on the road, the players are eager to carry the acquired momentum into the longest homestand of the 2010-11 season.
Head Coach Tom Renney says the good vibes are a positive change, but that the team needs to remain on an even keel as they look to extend the winning streak.
"We've got to come out well. We've been on the road now and we feel good about our minor accomplishments there. We have to make sure that we come out really hard and smart, and put the heat on this team," said the bench boss.
"Discipline to that end is going to be important, but not at the expense of our compete. I think beyond that, it will be how we manage the puck tonight; and just make sure that the team needs to work hard for everything they get."
"When you've got a homestand like this, you've got to do everything you can to play your best hockey."
Rookie Jordan Eberle, who has now scored six points in his last five games, agreed with Renney’s sentiments.
"Home is always a place where you kind of get the fans behind you and you get the little extra advantage, so we want to take advantage of that and use it,” Eberle said of the homestand.
"I think with Hemmer (Ales Hemsky) out, as a team we have to pick up his offensive ability and his impact on the game. Not only one guy is going to do that. We have to spread it out amongst the team."
YOU REMIND ME
The Oilers find themselves in a similar situation as last season, when the team rattled off five consecutive wins on the road and then returned home for an extremely important homestand. With the unfortunate results (four losses) of a year ago fresh in the minds of the media, players and coaches weren’t concerning themselves with that past statistic.
"Thanks for reminding me,” Eberle laughed. “We're playing better hockey. We're not only winning games, but we're feeling good about winning games; that we earned them. For us coming into this homestand, obviously we have a lot of confidence and we have to forget about the road trip."
"Take the confidence, but you have to learn from it and move on, and obviously we have an important game tonight. Any team on any night in this league can win, so it's just a matter of who shows up."
The head coach agreed, as he expanded further on what the team needs to do tonight to ensure to positive outcome.
"I think we have to continue to pay attention to the details that we've started the year with, quite honestly, and be relentless on those," the coach said. "We can't allow ourselves to feel that good where we just stand around and watch. We have a long way to go to catch up to the teams that are in the playoff spot, and that's our objective naturally."
DEFENSIVE STAND
With the team’s offensive game currently firing on all cylinders, the defensive game has taken large steps forward as well. Defenceman Ladislav Smid commented on the change, and says that the improvement is more of a full-team effort.
"The forwards are allowing us to gap up a little bit better; we can stand up on the opposition and our F3 (third forward) is always there for us. One of the forwards is always helping us defensively and offensively," said the stay-at-home blueliner. "We just have to keep it going."
COACH COMPLIMENTS
With the Oilers currently riding a season-high winning streak, in addition to showcasing more complete efforts on a nightly basis, Head Coach Tom Renney wasn’t shy to compliment his club’s efforts and comment further on the expected growth of the new Edmonton Oilers as they continue through the trials of a new era.
"They're just growing up. This team will have to grow up before your eyes; and we're going to have to mess up a little bit and persevere, and we're doing that," said Renney. "We're just evolving. That's all."
With the growth, confidence, and success riding high, Edmonton looks to extend its winning streak to four tonight against the St. Louis Blues from Rexall Place.
OILERS 2 - BLUES 1
 The Oilers and Blues took a while to get going Saturday night, and after third-period goals by Ryan Jones and Eric Brewer, found themselves even after 60 minutes. But only 23 seconds into overtime, Taylor Hall caught a breakaway and fired home the game-winner to secure a 2-1 win for Edmonton and extend the club's winning streak to four games.
Author: Ryan Dittrick | edmontonoilers.com, with files from Tom Gazzola & Bob Stauffer
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5
Led by some of their youngest players, the Oilers dominated Thursday's game in Toronto, out-scoring the Leafs 5-0 despite being outshot 33-19. Rookies 
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