Edmonton Oilers bracing for match against mighty Lightning

The Edmonton Oilers will be trying to avoid a Lightning strike Monday night at Rogers Place.

Tampa Bay rolls into town with the best record in the NHL (75 points), the most potent offence in the league (3.56 goals per game), and two of the top five leading scorers (Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos).

“Just so much speed. Every line seems to have a lot of chemistry. They always seem to know where the other guy is on the ice. They do a lot of no-look passes,” said Oilers goalie Cam Talbot. “You just have to stay patient as a goaltender and focus on the best read you can make.”

“One: they’re confident. Two: they play with a lot of pace. They have the skill to go with the pace,” said head coach Todd McLellan.

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“It’s a huge challenge for use but one we hope will bring the best out of our team.”

It’s the end of a five-game home stand for the Oilers, who are 2-1-1 so far. Their last game was Thursday when they lost 4-3 in overtime to Colorado.

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The Oilers expected lineup is:

Cammalleri – McDavid – Draisaitl

Lucic – Khaira – Puljujarvi

Maroon – Strome – Caggiula

Slepyshev – Letestu – Kassian

Nurse – Davidson

Sekera – Russell

Klefbom – Benning

Talbot

Catch the Oilers and Lightning on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 5:30 p.m. The game starts at 7 p.m.