Ducks-Oilers Preview
ANAHEIM DUCKS (12-10-4) at
EDMONTON OILERS (10-14-1)
Start Time: 7:08 p.m. MST
Television: Rogers Sportsnet West
Radio: 630 CHED, Oilers Radio Network and online at edmontonoilers.com.
Game Notes | Edmonton/Anaheim Stats Comparison | Player Head-to-Head Statistics
The Edmonton Oilers look to get back on track tonight when they face the Anaheim Ducks here at Rexall Place.
Tonight is the first of a home-and-home series between Edmonton and Anaheim. The Oilers will meet the Ducks in Anaheim this Sunday.
It’s also a short one-game home date as the Oilers last game was a 4-2 setback against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Wednesday. Prior to that, Edmonton had won two straight and they will try and get back on the winning side of things this evening.
After starting the season with only four wins in their first 13 games of the season, the Ducks have picked up their game in a big way in November. In its last 13 games, Anaheim is 8-3-2 and has catapulted up the Pacific Division standings.
Edmonton defeated Anaheim 3-2 in a shootout on October 28 in the only other meeting between the clubs so far this season.
Just The Facts...
LINEUP UPDATE (11:54 AM): Dwayne Roloson gets the start in goal for the Oilers for the third game in a row...
Sheldon Souray and Fernando Pisani skated but neither will play tonight. MacTavish said that Souray is probably about two weeks away while Pisani will be going on the team's road trip to Anaheim and Los Angeles and could see action in one of those two games.
OILERS TO WATCH: Raffi Torres ended a 14-game stretch without points and a 17-game stretch without goals on Wednesday against Colorado. Last time Torres broke a slump he rattled off three goals and six points in six games so the goal might be just what he needed to get back on track…
Shawn Horcoff continues to be the team’s most effective forward. He leads the Oilers in goals (10), power play goals (4), is tied for the team lead in assists (11) and leads the team in points (21). He has picked up three goals and five points in Edmonton’s last five games… 21-year-old
Ladislav Smid continues to be a steady presence on the blueline since being recalled from AHL Springfield 16 games ago. Usually averaging 20 minutes a night, he’s been even or better in 10 games this year.
DUCKS TO WATCH: Oilers fans will keep a close eye on the player wearing the “C” for the Ducks tonight – former Oiler Chris Pronger. Pronger has picked up 13 points in his last 12 games for Anaheim. Another defenceman doing well is Mathieu Schneider. He missed the first month of the season due to injury but has contributed to the Ducks turnaround in a big way with nine points in his 11 games thus far… Ryan Getzlaf had a career high eight-game point streak snapped Tuesday in Vancouver. He had 12 points in those eight games. He picked up right where he left off with two points last night in Calgary.... With Jean-Sebastien Giguere having played last night in Calgary, Jonas Hiller could get the start tonight for the Ducks. Hiller has a 1-1-1 record in four appearances this year, with a 2.76 GAA and .906 save percentage.
ROSTER UPDATES: Edmonton –
Sheldon Souray (shoulder) is out. Ethan Moreau (foot) is out. Matt Greene (ankle) is out. Fernando Pisani (colitis) is doubtful. Dick Tarnstrom (concussion) is doubtful; Anaheim – Drew Miller (strained knee) is day-to-day.
FAST FACTS: Anaheim has just one win in 14 games in Edmonton since the start of the 1999-2000 season with a record of 1-10-3 in those games. Their lone win came last season in a shootout back on Nov. 28... Prior to their current Western Canadian road swing that is taking them through Vancouver, Calgary and now Edmonton, Anaheim played 10 straight games against teams in their own division. They fared well, going 6-2-2 versus the Pacific Division… Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere has stopped the last 10 shootout attempts he’s faced. The Oilers were able to score twice in two attempts on the Anaheim netminder (Hemsky and Gagner)… While Edmonton leads the NHL in shootout wins with six, Anaheim is second with four. Seven of the Ducks’ last 14 games have gone to overtime or a shootout while six of Edmonton’s last 16 games have gone into extra time… Andy McDonald has played in 269 straight games for the Ducks and is now five games away from tying Samuel Pahlsson for the club all-time record for consecutive games played (275).
The Answers
Pre-Game Video...
- Torres, Reasoner, Gilbert & MacTavish comment on yesterday's news that the NHL approved a new scheduling matrix.
700K
- Pre-game comments from Reasoner, Gilbert, Smid & MacTavish. 700K
Pre-Game Audio...
Injury Update Videos...
- Matt Greene talks to the media on Friday about the status of his injury. 700K
- Sheldon Souray and Craig MacTavish talk to the media on Friday about Souray's road to recovery. 700K
- Fernando Pisani and Craig MacTavish talk to the media on Friday about the possibility of Pisani playing with the team within a couple weeks. 700K
Injury Updates...
News Updates
The Other Side
- The Life of Brian - After struggling to find ice time in Washington, Brian Sutherby has been given new life since being acquired by Anaheim in a trade last week. ...more
Item of the Game
Each game, a different item is featured at The Oilers Store at Rexall Place.
Tonight's item is an Oilers Premier Jersey (regular $139.99, now $124.99).
From the Fans
Odds and Ends
- Oilers Live - Web Edition - Listen to this week's Oilers Live as our web guys (Andreas Schwabe, Marc Ciampa, Steve Taylor) plus Oilers manager of corporate communications Darren Krill give an update on the site and talk about the team. Listen to Podcast
- December Wallpaper now available! - A new month is upon us and with a new month comes new Edmonton Oilers desktop wallpaper. Follow the link to download your Oilers December wallpaper right now. ...more
From the Wire
The Anaheim Ducks have been playing better on the road lately, but figuring out a way to win in Edmonton has been difficult for a while.
The Ducks will try to end their road woes against the Oilers when the teams square off on Friday night at Rexall Place.
Anaheim (12-10-4) has just one win in 14 games in Edmonton since the start of the 1999-2000 season, going 1-10-3 over that span. The lone victory came was a 3-2 shootout win on Nov. 28, 2006.
The Oilers (10-14-1) have outscored the Ducks 42-25 in those games. Edmonton, tied with Los Angeles for last in the Western Conference with 21 points, is just 6-7-0 at home this season but has won three of four on its own ice.
The defending Stanley Cup champions started this season with six straight road losses, but are 4-2-0 away from home since then. They won 4-1 in Calgary on Thursday behind 38 saves from goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere for their sixth win in nine games overall.
Giguere bounced back after being benched in the third period Tuesday in the Ducks' 4-0 loss in Vancouver. He has allowed two or fewer goals in four of his last five starts.
Todd Marchant, Chris Kunitz, Corey Perry and Rob Niedermayer scored for Anaheim, and Ryan Getzlaf and Chris Pronger each had two assists. Getzlaf, who signed a $26.5 million, five-year contract extension on Nov. 20, has six goals and eight assists over his last 10 games.
"(Getzlaf) has world-class hands, a great shot, he's big, and he's physical," Kunitz said. "We call him the franchise because that's what he is. He goes out there and plays with his heart on his sleeve."
Getzlaf leads the team with 27 points and is tied with Pronger for the team lead with 17 assists. Perry, meanwhile, leads the team with 13 goals.
The Oilers are coming off Wednesday's 4-2 loss in Colorado. Raffi Torres and Shawn Horcoff scored in the third period for Edmonton, which was outshot 36-9 through the first two periods.
"We can't wait until we're down 4-0. We have to do a better job of being ready to go," Horcoff said. "We gave them quality, quality scoring chances right in the slot. We were lucky to be down 2-0 after the first."
Roloson was yanked before the third period but made 32 saves. He had won his last two starts, ending a five-start losing streak.
"I don't look at it that way," he said when told his teammates praised him for not allowing more than four goals. "I look at the chances they got by me. I needed to keep us in the game."
The Oilers failed to score a power play goal for the third straight game and rank last in the league with just 11 this season.
"We were just running in circles out there, turning the pucks over and they were jumping all over us," forward Kyle Brodziak said. "They were ready to play and we weren't."
BOSTON PIZZA GAME PREVIEW
Ducks
Oilers
Pre-Game vs. Anaheim: Marty Reasoner 
edmontonoilers.com is the official Web site of the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club. The Edmonton Oilers and edmontonoilers.com are trademarks of Rexall Sports Corp. NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2013 Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved.
Print
