It’s too late to get them into the playoffs, but the Edmonton Oilers have finally put together an extended stretch of solid hockey.
“Better defence–no question about that,” defenceman Adam Larsson said. “If you look at the game as a whole, we haven’t given up as many odd-man rushes. We’re playing as a unit in the defensive zone. If you know you don’t have to score five or six every game to win, it helps out a lot.”
The Oilers are 9-6-1 in their last 16 games. They’ll visit the Ottawa Senators Thursday night to close out a four-game road trip. The Senators are having a tough season and will be without star defenceman Erik Karlsson, who is away from the team following his son’s death.
The Oilers expected lineup is:
Nugent-Hopkins – McDavid – Rattie
Caggiula – Draisaitl – Aberg
Lucic – Strome – Puljujarvi
Slepyshev – Khaira – Pakarinen
Nurse – Larsson
Russell – Bear
Auvitu – Benning
Talbot
The Oilers and Senators are on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 4 p.m. The game starts at 5:30 p.m.