With only two games left before the All-Star Break, the Edmonton Oilers have a big test looking to come out on top against Anaheim and San Jose.
The Ducks are leading the Pacific Division with 63 points, the Sharks are second with 62, and the Oilers are right behind with 60, so these games mean a lot in the playoff race.
“These are huge points,” left winger Patrick Maroon said. “We’ve just got to find ways to beat these teams. We got to come ready to play. They’ve been in the standings for the last four years so we’ve got to find ways to compete with them and play good defensively and structurally… find ways to win and find ways to get four points on this road trip.”
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The Oilers will play the first of two games in Anaheim Wednesday night. Maroon won’t be a stranger at the Honda Center though, as he started his NHL career with the Ducks.
“It’s always extra motivation playing your old teammates and your old team so I’m excited,” Maroon said. “It would be nice to get another win against them. We found a way to get a win in overtime but we’ll just stay out of overtime these days.
“We don’t need to go into overtime anymore.”
That’s the first of back-to-back games with the Oilers heading to San Jose to face defensive scoring leader Brent Burns and the rest of the Sharks.
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Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said the team had a good home stand in Edmonton, but needs to focus on these two games before the break.
“We need to get points in every game but when we play these two teams, we know where they are and where we are in the standings so I mean, it’s just going to add that much more emphasis on it to come out with two points,” Nugent-Hopkins said.
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The Oilers play 11 out of the next 15 games on the road, so McLellan said the team will need to be prepared for the difficult schedule.
“We go to some tough buildings, we have a tough schedule,” McLellan said. “We’re going to have to grind it out. We’re going to have to find ways to put points in the bank throughout the next 15 games.”
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