Game 23 - Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks - Rexall Place - November 21, 2009 - CBC 8:00 pm The Edmonton Oilers (9-10-3) will host the Chicago Blackhawks (13-5-2) at Rexall Place in Edmonton tonight. Though the Edmonton Oilers are currently on a single-game win streak, over their past ten games, they've gone just 3-5-2. In contrast, the Chicago Blackhawks have a 7-2-1 record and are in the midst of a five-game win streak themselves. Tonight, the Oilers will hope to avoid potential embarrassment in playing the Blackhawks who are just a superior hockey team. In that regard, the Oilers had recently chosen to play Jeff Deslauriers in their recent game vs. the Colorado Avalanche so that Nikolai Khabibulin would be rested for tonight's game. In today's Edmonton Journal article by Joanne Ireland, Ethan Moreau was quoted as saying, "It's one of those games that you have to get ready for or you'll get embarrassed." The captain has set the tone for tonight's game... It's pretty clear that the the first goal is to avoid potential embarrassment while stealing a win is just a secondary objective. Speaking of embarassment, the Chicago Blackhawks recently served the Calgary Flames a healty dose of humble pie on Thursday with a final score of 7-1. There's no question that the Blackhawks are one hell of a good hockey team this year. 
Pregame Thoughts: During their first match-up of this season, the Oilers did manage to avoid potential humiliation if only on the score board with an eventual 4-3 loss. After the game, even Pat Quinn had remarked something about the final score being flattering. In today's Edmonton Journal, Pat Quinn was succinctly quoted: We've seen how they can play. We know that we can't play the same way that we did (in Chicago). We have to be on our top game to play with them. Around the Oilogosphere, the tension and frustration is beyond palpable. Last year, the Edmonton Oilers were a hockey team that couldn't win face-off draws (excluding Shawn Horcoff), had problems killing penalties, lacked size and grit, had too many small players with duplicate skill sets, and lacked veteran depth as well as roster balance. Not surprisingly, this year not much has changed. I would imagine that trying to work with our existing roster of players is probably pushing Pat Quinn's blood pressure through the roof. Considering that the issues with our roster are not only long-standing, but patently obvious to anyone who follows this hockey team, this team's obstreperous refusal to make roster changes simply causes a sense of bewilderment. Earlier this year, Pat Quinn had attempted to create balanced scoring lines which was thwarted by player injuries. Benjamin Massey over the Copper & Blue blog, had the prescience to opine that it wouldn't be long before Pat Quinn would be riding Penner, Horcoff, and Hemsky like a mechanical bull. Speaking of garbage, Jean-Francois Jacques! Apparently Pat Quinn still wants him on the first line! Well, let me rephrase that. Pat Quinn wants Jean-Francois Jacques on the first line until he needs to score goals and win hockey games, then he rides Horpensky like a mechanical bull. Playing a deliberately sub-par lineup seems like an interesting piece of coaching from Quinn. My theory is that he saw the Blackhawks come back from 5-0 down against Calgary and has decided to pursue that as an actual strategy. Now, I've never won a World Junior Championship, but it seems that not playing your best players when you know they're your best players is weird coaching. Pregame Stats: After the Oilers recent win vs the Colorado Avalanche, a game in which they lost the majority of face-off draws, they've recently dropped to the bottom of the entire NHL in face-off win percentage. Historically, the Oilers face-off win percentage has been propped up by one Shawn Horcoff. However, it's likely that his recent shoulder injury is having a negative impact on his ability to win draws. The Oilers powerplay (21.7%) is only a shade less effective than that of the Chicago Blackhawks (22.1%). However, the Oilers middling penalty kill (78.8%) is more than a few steps behind the Hawks (86.3%) In terms of shot differentials, the Blackhawks are currently +7.4/ game while the Oilers are -5.5/game. Edmonton Oilers Projected Lineup: Dan Tencer's reported that Ethan Moreau will likely play in tonight's game despite his recent head injury. I will update the projected lineup when further information emerges. ***Apparently, JF Jacques is expected to return tonight. My previous guess was wrong, so I've jacked the projected lineups from Racki - Putting on the Foil. 
Penner-Horcoff-Hemsky
Jacques-Gagner-Stortini
O’Sullivan-Brule-Reddox
Moreau-Cogliano-Potulny Souray-Staios
Smid-Visnovsky
Gilbert-Strudwick/Arsene Khabibulin
JDD 
Chicago Blackhawks Projected Lineup: ***updated
Bickell–Toews–Kane
Byfuglien–Versteeg–Sharp
Ladd–Madden–Brouwer
Eager–Fraser–Kopecky Keith-Seabrook
Campbell-Hjalmarsson
Barker-Sopel
Hendry Huet
Niemi
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