Game Preview : House Of 1,000 Gagners

Season Series

The Blackhawks will look to rebound from their worst game of the year with their one and only trip to Edmonton tonight. The problem is Rexall Place has been a house of horrors from them lately. Last season the Hawks gave up a combined 17 goals in their two games at the Oilers. Everybody remembers the laughable nightmare that was Sam Gagner's 8 point performance. The last time we saw the Oilers they put up a 6 spot, scoring 3 goals on both Ray Emery and Corey Crawford. All of this is the recipe for a potentially frustrating game that will cause me to swear at my poor innocent television. For all of you who have been wanting to see Drew LeBlanc, you are going get your wish tonight. LeBlance centered the second line, between Patrick Kane and and the returning Patrick Sharp, during the morning skate. At this point, Joey the Jr. Reporter is an upgrade over Dave Bolland, who did not skate this morning. Also, Michal Handzus and Andrew Shaw flip flopped with Handzus on the 3rd line and Shaw down to the 4th. Ray Emery was first off the ice, so as expected, he gets the start tonight in goal.

The Oilers have been a hot mess this year, yet again. Their recent 2-8-0 stretch has them in the running to get their 27th first overall pick in a row. One day someone in the Edmonton front office will learn you need to some players on the back end as well. Drafting a ton of young goal scorers does you no good if your team can not stop the other team from scoring at will. Newly appointed general manager Craig MacTavish is now the man trusted to right the ship in Edmonton. Yeah, good luck with that! But even the apparent riches of #1 overall picks is not doing much for the offense, considering the Oilers are 24th in scoring with 2.42 goals per game. The Hawks will need to beware of the penalty box because Edmonton does boast a potent power play that scores at a 20.8% clip. On paper, the Hawks should wipe the for with the Oilers, so why I am I expecting to see a complete disaster?

Probable Blackhawks lineup:

Fowards

Brandon Saad - Jonathan Toews - Marian Hossa
Patrick Sharp - Drew LeBlanc - Patrick Kane
Bryan Bickell - Michal Handzus - Viktor Stalberg
Marcus Kruger - Andrew Shaw - Michael Frolik

Defensive Pairings
Duncan Keith - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Nick Leddy - Brent Seabrook
Johnny Oduya - Sheldon Brookbank

Goaltender

Ray Emery 16-1-0, 1.91 GAA, .923 save %, 3 SO

Injuries

Dave Bolland (groin) OUT

Leading Scorers

Probable Oilers lineup

Fowards

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Jordan Eberle
Magnus Paajarvi - Shawn Horcoff - Nail Yakupov
Ryan Jones - Anton Lander - Teemu Hartikainen
Ryan Smyth - Jerred Smithson - Mike Brown

Defensive Pairings
Nick Schultz - Justin Schultz
Ladislav Smid - Jeff Petry
Corey Potter - Mark Fistric

Goaltender

Devan Dubnyk 13-15-6, 2.57 GAA, .921 save %, 2 SO

Injuries

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder) OUT, Ales Hemsky (foot) OUT, Magnus Paajarvi (foot) questionable, Theo Peckham (illness) questionable

Leading Scorers

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