Anton Slepyshev draws back into the Edmonton Oilers lineup on Tuesday night when they wrap up a three game road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Slepyshev has been in and out of the Oilers lineup so far this season due to injuries and inconsistent play, but in Columbus he will replace Drake Caggiula on the fourth line with Mark Letestu and Zack Kassian.
“He’s a hard player with a ton of skill and a tremendous shot,” said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan on inserting Slepyshev into the lineup. “He’s just got to put it all together and try and stay healthy and get his confidence back up. We think he can make an impact on the game tonight and he’ll get that opportunity.”
Slepyshev has just one goal and one assist in 13 games so for this season.
“It’s been a bit frustrating for me, again its injuries and all this stuff, but what can I do?” added Slepyshev. “I’m excited to be back in and I hope I can show some offensive game, some fast game, some forecheck and that kind of stuff.”
The Oilers as a whole have had a strong road trip, despite their 1-1 record. The Oilers chased Carey Price from goal in a 6-2 win in Montreal on Saturday. On Sunday the Oilers lost 1-0 in Toronto but they controlled the majority of the play and outshot the Leafs 41-23.
“Honestly our two best games of the year that we played so far were in Montreal and Toronto on this road trip,” said Oilers forward Milan Lucic. “We didn’t get the result that we wanted in Toronto, but I think that what you have to look at more than anything was the effort, the attention to detail, the back-check, play in the d-zone, the hungriness to create scoring chances and keep plays alive around the net.
“It was all there the last two games, and if we bring that same kind of effort against the Blue Jackets then we will give ourselves a good chance to win.”
One of the key battles Tuesday night will be on special teams where something has to give for one of these two teams. The Oilers are ranked dead last in the NHL on the penalty kill at 72.7 per cent. On the other side of the spectrum the Blue Jackets are dead last in the NHL on the power play at 9.4 per cent.
Here is the Oilers projected lineup at Columbus.
Lucic-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Maroon-RNH-Cammalleri
Khaira-Draisaitl-Strome
Slepyshev-Letestu-Kassian
Nurse-Russell
Klefbom-Benning
Auvitu-Davidson
Brossoit
Catch the Oilers and Blue Jackets on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 3:30pm. The game starts at 5pm.
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