NHL
Edmonton travels down south to take on the Florida Panthers
The Edmonton Oilers will travel down to Sunrise to take on the Florida Panthers for their first meeting of the season. Last season, both teams split the season series at 1-1-0 a piece.
Tale of the Tape
Edmonton (8-5-1)
The Oilers are coming off of getting beaten down by the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 and have lost their last two games. However, they still have generational talent in captain Connor McDavid. McDavid is currently tied for second in the NHL in scoring with Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (22 points).
Additionally, McDavid’s line mate in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is extremely dangerous. Nugent-Hopkins is currently second on the team in scoring with . Additionally, his teammate in Leon Draisaitl is third. Look for all three to make some noise.
For this match up, look for Cam Talbot to get the start in goal as Mikko Koskinen allowed five goals in the game against Tampa. Talbot currently hones a 2.93 goals against average.
Florida (3-5-3)
The Panthers are coming off of a 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets during the Global Series in Finland last week. This is their first game since then.
Mike Hoffman is currently on an eight game point streak and looks to extend that point streak in this match up. Additionally, Evgenii Dadonov is on a nine game point streak. As a result, the two were put on the top line with Aleksander Barkov. Look for this line to start wrecking havoc in today’s game.
Roberto Luongo returned from injury in the game against Winnipeg and is expected to get the call today after making 32 saves.
Injuries/Suspensions
Edmonton
Milan Lucic had a hearing for his hit against Matheiu Joseph but it seems he will not be suspended.
Andrej Sekera is out indefinitely after having surgery on his Achilles tendon after injuring it during the off season.
Florida
Mark Pysyk is still recovering from injury and will be a game-time decision.
Derek Mackenzie is still out from shoulder surgery.
Michael Haley is starting to practice but is still currently out.
Jaime McGinn is still recovering from back surgery.
Projected Lineups (according to DailyFaceoff.com and other sources)
Edmonton
L1: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Ty Rattie
L2: Tobias Reider-Leon Draisaitl-Drake Caggiula
L3: Milan Lucic-Ryan Strome-Kailer Yamamoto
L4: Jujhar Khaira-Kyle Brodziak-Zack Kassain
D1: Oscar Klefbom-Adam Larsson
D2: Darnell Nurse-Kris Russel
D3: Kevin Gravel-Matt Benning
G1: Cam Talbot
G2: Mikko Koskinen
Scratches: Jesse Puljujarvi, Alex Chiasson
Florida
L1: Evgenii Dadonov-Aleksander Barkov-Mike Hoffman
L2: Johnathan Huberdeau-Vincent Trocheck-Frank Vatrano
L3: Denis Malgin-Jared McCann-Nick Bjugstad
L4: Troy Brouwer-Juho Lammikko-Colton Scevior
D1: Michael Matheson-Aaron Ekblad
D2: Keith Yandle-Alexander Petrovic
D3: Bogdan Kiselevich-Mackenzie Weegar
G1: Roberto Luongo
G2: James Reimer
Scratches: Maxim Mamin
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