The Edmonton Oilers will try to fend off a Shark attack Saturday night at Rogers Place.
The Oilers last two games against San Jose didn’t go well, losing 7-4 on Dec. 29 and 7-2 on Jan. 8.
“They’re so good at taking advantage of mistakes. They scored so many goals in the red zone on us,” said head coach Ken Hitchcock. “They got a lot of depth. You work against one line, then there’s another line that pops up.”
Cam Talbot will start in goal for the fourth time in the last five games. He made 35 saves in a 4-1 win over Minnesota on Thursday.
“When he’s square and he’s angled towards the shooter, he’s terrific positionally. There was a period of time at the start of the year that he got flat, so as the shooters got closer there were more openings,” explained Hitchcock.
Defenceman Matt Benning is day-to-day with an upper body injury. Kevin Gravel will take his spot. Kyle Brodziak returns after being scratched against the Wild. Colby Cave will come out.
The Oilers expected lineup is:
Draisaitl – McDavid – Rattie
Lucic – Nugent-Hopkins – Chiasson
Khaira – Malone – Kassian
Rieder – Brodziak – Puljujarvi
Klefbom – Larsson
Nurse – Russell
Manning – Gravel
Talbot
Catch the Oilers and Sharks on 630 CHED Saturday with the Face-off Show at 3:30 p.m. The game will start at 5 p.m.
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