The Edmonton Oilers (35-22-4) hope to rebound from a tough 6-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks earlier this week as they take on the Montreal Canadiens (30-26-5) on Thursday night, a team currently riding a five-game winning streak.
The game will be Edmonton’s second of a three-game homestand at Rogers Place, where the Oilers have put together an 18-11-2 record this season. The Habs have gone 14-14-1 on the road.
Montreal has won six of its last 10 games, scoring an average of 3.3 goals per game in the time frame and giving up 2.9 goals per game. Over Edmonton’s last 10 games, the Oilers have a record of 3-7-0 and have scored an average of 2.9 goals per game while giving up an average of four goals per game.
The Oilers have lost six of their last seven games.
Thursday night’s game comes one day before the NHL trade deadline, which is set for Friday at 1 p.m. MST. On Tuesday, the Oilers announced they had acquired forwards Trent Frederic and Max Jones in a three-team trade involving the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils.
Frederic is not expected to make his Oilers debut for another two or three weeks because of an injury. Defencemen Mattias Ekholm and John Klingberg will also not be available to play on Tuesday, according to a post on the hockey club’s X account. Jones and Cam Dineen, a defenceman who was called up to the team from the American Hockey League on an emergency basis, will make their debuts in Oilers jerseys.
“I’m excited that I’m here in a great city that loves their team.”
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Jones was selected in the first round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Ducks, the club he has spent most of his career playing for. He had played in just seven games with the Bruins this season. The forward has a reputation for a strong work ethic and playing a physical game.
“The physicality part and the working hard part, that’s something you can control … Just finishing hits,” Jones said. “From there, it’s kind of just going out, playing hockey and I’ve been playing some pretty good hockey lately. …
“I’m just honoured to really be a part of it and learn from these guys and do what I can to help out.”
Stuart Skinner is expected to be the Oilers’ starting goaltender on Thursday.
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