The Edmonton Oilers are putting a disastrous season opener behind them as they prepare for Saturday night’s rematch with the Vancouver Canucks.
(You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with “The Faceoff Show” at 6:30 p.m. The actual game starts at 8 p.m.)
“We’ve talked about the game. We went over it. We don’t need to harp on it anymore,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said of Wednesday’s 8-1 loss in Vancouver.
“I think you can expect a lot more effort from us as a group tomorrow.”
“We’re very direct and open with our communication,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said after Friday’s practice. “It was a quick, succinct, direct practice.
“We got what we needed. It was a good day for us.”
This is the fifth season in a row the Oilers have played the Canucks in their home opener. The Oilers won three of the previous four meetings.
Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm looks good to go after missing all of the pre-season and Wednesday’s game with a hip flexor.
“He’s had really good days,” Woodcroft said of Ekholm.
“He looks good out there to me.”
Oilers forward Dylan Holloway is fine after a puck hit him in the left hand in the third period.
“It’s my bad wrist. I had two surgeries on that wrist. It caught me right on the bone,” Holloway explained. “It hurt a lot. I thought I messed it up again. Thankfully, the X-ray showed no break.
“It’s a little sore, but it’s nothing that will keep me out.”
The Oilers have signed forward Adam Erne to a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000. Erne was with the Oilers through camp on a professional tryout deal.
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