Western Canada Road Trip, Take 2

By Josh Burnett
for 2ManAdvantage.com

Published: December 21, 2007

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Part two of the three-game pre-Christmas Canadian road swing is upon us, and the Devils drop into Edmonton to take on the Oilers. Now if this seems a little weird to you, there’s perfectly good reason: This will be the Devils first visit to Rexall Place in SIX years. In fact, the boys in Black and Red haven’t lost in Edmonton since Halloween, 1995! That’d surely be a good sign, if not for the small sample size.

Fresh off the 5-0 drubbing in Van City on Tuesday night, the Devils hit the ice looking to stave off being shut out a record eight times in one season – and the ball hasn’t even dropped on the ’07 portion of the season yet.

The Oilers seem to be in the same boat as the Devs though (well, not the SAME exact shutout-heavy boat, but at least a low-powered-offense boat of similar stature), potting a scant two goals in the last two games. The Oil recently set an NHL record, appearing in their fourth consecutive shootout, going 3-0-1 over the course of the four games. The Oilers have picked up points in five consecutive games and are 6-2-2 in their last 10.

The key to this game for the Devils (besides putting pucks in nets) will be the power play, where Edmonton ranks dead last with a 12.4% success rate. Seeing as the Devs seem to enjoy the friendly confines of the sin bin of late, clamping down on the PK is a must tonight.

The Oiler to watch tonight would be Mr. Shawn Horcoff, the team leader with 16 goals and 18 assists, and therefore also the team leader with 34 points (see, I can do math after all!). Mathieu Garon looks to get the nod in net, as Dwayne Roloson remains sidelined with the flu for the Oilers.

In net on the visitors side of the ice, I would naturally LIKE to see Kevin Weekes get the nod – Marty had a bad night in Vancouver and could probably use some rest. If you give him off on Sunday in Calgary, then he goes well over a week without any game action. But, this is Marty we’re talking about here, and I’m sure he’ll probably be in net both tonight and in Calgary.

Tonight’s game starts at 9 PM, but it’s a Friday night, so where do you have to be? Pop on a pot of coffee and witness the rarity that is a Devils @ Edmonton game!