The Oilers have nine games remaining in the season and two of them will come against tonights opponent, the Colorado Avalanche.
These two teams have almost exact opposite records in the month of March: the Oilers are sitting at 2-5-3 and the Avs are sitting a little prettier at 6-2-1.
Despite having a strong month, the Avalanche haven’t been quite as strong this year as they were during last season, one which was almost Cinderella-like. Sitting with 78 points, they are still 8 points behind the 8th place Flames, and likely will miss the playoffs this season. They haven’t been getting the scoring from Mackinnon, who has 38 so far after having a 63 points rookie campaign last year. O’Reilly, Tanguay, and Duchene have yet to hit 50 points, and only Iginla and Landeskog have hit the half-century plateau.
The Oilers come into tonight after a tough loss against Winnipeg on Monday. They lacked the energy needed to beat the surging Jets and fell 4-1. They lost Ference and Gordon in that game, and those are two veterans who play tough minutes. Taylor Hall made his return to the lineup and managed to assist on the Oilers only goal, scored by Nugent-Hopkins. Hall, a usually-high-energy player, seemed slowed down on Monday night.
It looks like it’ll be a low-offence game tonight. The Avs have struggled to score and the Oilers have lacked the energy needed to score. BUT both teams are weak on the back-end and the Oilers have the weaker goaltender. (Scrivens: 14-23-10, .895 SV, 2.99 GAA) and (25-18-8, .922 SV, 2.52 GAA). So there could be some scoring, and maybe this could turn into a track meet… Despite last game being a 2-1 SO win for the Avs.
Odd Prediction
The Oilers find themselves with a 1-0 lead early in the first, but somehow only play with 4 players the rest of the period… McDavid! Iginla scores 2 goals and my love for him only grows.
Game Prediction
This won’t be a track meet, BUT it could be.
Both teams play highly offensive and forget about anything behind their own blueline. Goalies are bombarded. Varlamov plays better.
5-3 Avs win.
Looking Ahead!
The Oilers have a tough schedule to end the season, which may not be a bad thing.
They will face the Kings twice, the Flames, the Ducks, the Avs, and the Stars to close out the season. It will be tough sailing ahead, but with a legit superstar(s) being available at the draft it may not be so bad.
Hopefully we get some good play and some bright spots looking forward to next season, but also hopefully we don’t win too much… McDavid!
copper, blue, & tears 