BOSTON PIZZA GAME PREVIEW
Thursday, 24 September 2009
FINAL OT
3 - 4
FINAL OT 1 2 3 OT T
Oilers 0 2 1 0 3
Lightning 2 0 0 1 4
PREVIEW: EDMONTON vs. TAMPA BAY (at Winnipeg)
Kristi Hennessy  - edmontonoilers.com

EDMONTON OILERS (3-3-0) vs.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (2-1-2)
at Winnipeg, Manitoba

Pre-Game Video & Audio | 2009 Oilers Preseason Stats | 2009 NHL Preseason Standings

Start Time: 6:38 p.m. MDT
Television: TSN (HD) in Canada, NHL Network (HD) in the US
Radio: 630 CHED, Oilers Radio Network and online at edmontonoilers.com.

Oilers Twitter Lineup Updates:
     
by Kristi Hennessy | edmontonoilers.com

MORNING SKATE

The Oilers took the ice this morning to practice before jetting off to Winnipeg to face theTampa Bay Lightning.
The first line showed Sam Gagner, Ethan Moreau and Andrew Cogliano playing together. Second line had Dustin Penner, Rob Shremp and Jordan Eberle together. Quinn teamed up Robert Nilsson, Gilbert Brule and Ryan Stone for the third line and Liam Reddox, Steve MacIntyre and Zack Stortini rounded out the fourth line.

" Previous camps you always knew who the top two lines are and you know who the third line is. This year there's not really defined four lines to be honest with you."
"This has been the hardest camp I've been to as far as the work ethic and practices and teaching. Its been hard. It's definitely been a different camp I'd say." Rob Schremp commented about this years camp.

Defensive pairings were Denis Grebeshkov and Steve Staios, Taylor Chorney with Tom Gilbert and Lubomir Visnovsky together with Ladislav Smid. Jeff Deslauriers is expected to start in goal for the Oil.


GAME PREVIEW

The Edmonton Oilers head to the airport today to visit Winnipeg where they will meet the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tampa Bay and Edmonton will face each other only once in the regular season coming in Tampa Bay on December 9th. Last season, the Oilers defeated the Lightning 5-3 on February 24th in the only matchup of the year.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be playing their fourth game in four nights. Their road trip began on Monday in Regina where they faced the Ottawa Senators. The following night they flew south to Everett, Washington to play the Phoenix Coyotes for the first time in franchise history. After downing the Coyotes 2-1, they were off to lovely Loveland, Colorado last night, to give the Coyotes another chance. The Coyotes were up for the challenge and took the Lightning into a shootout and were victorious in the 4-3 final. Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier all scored for the Lightning in the losing effort.

Tampa Bay's lineup tonight will look much the same as the team that dressed last night against the Coyotes. Vincent Lacavalier, Alex Tanguay and Steve Downie will play together on the top line while Ryan Malone, Steve Stamkos and Martin St. Louis will form the second. Mike Smith is scheduled to get the start and should play the entire game.

Oilers are coming off of an exciting high scoring game last night in Edmonton hosting the Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames. The game saw Curtis Glencross of the Flames score just 1:34 into the first period. The goal was assisted by who other than the 41 year old Theo Fleury to poke the fire in Rexall. Oilers Dustin Penner answered back for the Oil three minutes later and things unraveled from there.

After two periods of play the shots were 24-16 in favor of the Flames who lead the Oilers by a score of 4-2. Mike Comrie slid in a power play goal 13 minutes into the third period but 40 seconds later, Fredrik Sjostrom scored for the Flames crushing the Oilers hopes of coming back. Flames took the second of two preseason games 5-3 in Edmonton.

Prior to this battle of Alberta, the Oilers dropped their last two games in Saskatoon against the NY Islanders and in Vancouver where they danced with the Canucks and lost 3-1.
Wiinkler, Manitoba native Dustin Penner makes a return to his home province tonight. (photo: Andy Devlin / EOHC)
TONIGHT'S LINEUPS...
EDMONTON OILERS ROSTER

1 Devan Dubnyk G
5 Ladislav Smid D
12 Robert Nilsson LW
14 Jordan Eberle RW 
18 Ethan Moreau LW
24 Steve Staios D
27 Dustin Penner LW
33 Steve MacIntyre RW
34 Fernando Pisani RW
37 Denis Grebeshkov D
38 Jeff Deslauriers D
41 Taylor Chorney D
46 Zack Stortini LW
67 Gilbert Brule C
71 Lubomir Visnovsky D
77 Tom Gilbert D
78 Marc Pouliot C
85 Liam Reddox LW
88 Rob Schremp LW
89 Sam Gagner C

OILERS TO WATCH: As good as Jordan Eberle has been playing, he is yet to produce a point in his first NHL preseason career. He is running out of time so he’s going to have to push it a little harder every game if he doesn’t want to be handed a plane ticket back to junior.

Gilbert Brule saw just over 15 minutes of ice time last night against the Flames and is expected to dress again in Winnipeg. Brule can only play 3 more games in the NHL before he must clear wavers. He too like many others is fighting for a spot and must ignite the skill that everyone including Quinn, knows he is capable of producing. Brule was brought up for 11 games with the Oilers last year totaling 3 points. The remainder of his season was played with Springfield where he produced 24 points in 39 games.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING ROSTER

9 Steve Downie RW
4 Vincent Lecavalier C
13 Alex Tanguay LW
19 Stephane Veilleux C
11 Jeff Halpern C
43 James Wright C
12 Ryan Malone LW
91 Steven Stamkos C
26 Martin St. Louis RW
17 Todd Fedoruk LW
38 Paul Sczcechura C
16 Drew Miller LW
5 Mattias Ohlund D
77 Victor Hedman D
2 Lukas Krajicek D
14 Andrej Meszaros D
6 Kurtis Foster D
8 Matt Walker D
41 Mike Smith G

LIGHTNING TO WATCH: Slovak native Andrej Meszaros, saw his first game action in Everett on since having his 298 consecutive games played streak snapped last season due to s shoulder injury. Look for him to suit up and play a solid game against the Oilers. Meszaros played in 52 games last year for the Lightning marking 16 points and 36 penalty minutes.
 
Vincent Lecavalier is expected to play against the Oilers as one of their top veterans. Lecavalier has only played in one preseason matchup and has two assists. Last year the Quebec captain contributed in 77 games totaling 67 points for the Lightning. His best season was in 2006-2007 when he marked a stunning 108 points for his team.
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