Gameday 12-11-09: Blues vs Oilers

Game Info

Location: Scottrade Center, St Louis, MO.
Game-time: 7 pm Central
TV: FSMW (HD)
Radio: KMOX 1120 AM

Stat Pack

Edmonton Oilers: 12th in Western Conference & 4th in Northwest Division – 32 Points
St Louis Blues: 13th in Western Conference & 5th in Central Division – 31 Points

Power Play:
St Louis (Home): 9.7%, 30th in NHL
Edmonton (Road): 22.6%, 8th in NHL

Penalty Kill
St Louis (Home): 82.1%, 13th in NHL
Edmonton (Road): 75.5%, 25th in NHL

Goals Scored per Game vs Goals Against per Game
St Louis (Home): 2.06 GF/G (30th) | 2.69 GA/G (16th)
Edmonton (Road): 2.44 GF/G (21th) | 2.80 GA/G (13th)

Hot & Cold
St Louis : Roman Polak (1 goal, Plus-1, 12 blocks, 17 hits in last 6 games) | Erik Johnson (2 points, Minus-6 in last 6 games)
Edmonton: Dustin Penner (5 goals and 9 points in last 10 games) & Jeff Deslauriers (2 goals or less allowed, .947 Save% in last 4 starts) | Shawn Horcoff (1 point, Minus-5 in last 6 games)

Food For Thought

Another interesting game of opposites tonight.

- Edmonton averages 3.33 Goals For per Game at home (5th), yet only manage 2.44 (21st) on the road.
- St. Louis averages 2.69 Goals For per Game on the road (12th), yet only manage a leauge low 2.06 at home.

What does this mean for tonight’s game? That we end up with very little scoring and some good goal tending.

Bad news for the Blues power play. While Edmonton has only the 25th ranked raod penalty kill, they have killed off 10 of their last 11 road penalties. The good news is that the power play hasn’t followed suit. It has converted once ouf of 12 attempts in their last four games. How can an 8.3% power play be scary? Given the Blues play at home, they can likely find a way.

When allowing 3 goals on the road Edmonton is 2-6-0. When scoring 3 goals at home the Blues are 3-0-1. Blues get 3 it’s a win…just sayin’

Difference Makers:

Tonight’s game is about goaltending more than ever.

Jeff Deslauriers has been on fire for two weeks. He has not allowed more than two goals in the month of December. His Save% is very high as well, .947% so far this month.

At home Chris Mason has been solid and good enough to have won more than 4 games. He has a 2.30 GAA and .912 Save% in 13 starts. While Conklin has been good of late, his 3.06 home GAA lends itself to Mason getting the start in my opinion.

Which goalie will out do the other? Deslauries is playing to claim a starting job while Nikolai Khabibulin is out injured. Both Mason and Conklin would be playing to get the home fans a win. Both teams do have young offensive talent and Edmonton has a very good blue line corps. Both goalies will be tested and be called on to make big saves.

Player Notes:

I would normally expect Chris Mason to start for the Blues and Jeff Deslaurier for the Oilers. However, it appears Ty Conklin will get his second straight start. Honestly, I am not sure why. His numbers at home are just not that good. Maybe Coach Andy Murray wants to create a “road atmosphere” at home?

Per Lou Korac of the Alton Telegraph, we can expect the following:

Kariya-Backes-Oshie
Tkachuk-Berglund-Perron
Winchester-McDonald-Boyes
Steen-McClement-Crombeen

Sydor-Johnson
Jackman-Polak
Colaiacovo-Weaver

Conklin in goal

Cam Janssen and Alex Pietrangelo are the healthy scratches

Korac also says to expect an Oilers Line up close to this:

Penner-Gagner-Brule
Jacques-Horcoff-O’Sullivan
Moreau-Potulny-Cogliano
Stone-Stortini-Nilsson

Smid-Visnovsky
Souray-Gilbert
Strudwick-Staios

Jeff Deslaurier in net.

You can follow Lou on Twitter @lkorac10.

Keys to the Game

1. Shut Down the Big Man
- Dustin Penner is finally playing to his talent level and its showing. He has 32 points and 17 goals in 31 games. The Blues need Roman Polak and Barret Jackman in full top form to be nasty with the big guy. Shut him down and let the rest fall where they may.

2. Watch for the Defensemen
- Edmonton has a very skilled and offensively capable group of defensemen. They got even better with the recent return of Sheldon Sourey and his full shot arsenal from the point. They can lug, pass, pinch and create havoc as well as any other set of six. One bonus is that Denis Grebeshkov hasn’t played since Nov 11th. He is another weapon off the blue line and one less worry. Lubomir Visnovsky, Tom Gilbert, and Ladislav Smid are still three to be concerned with.

3. Power Play
- It has to get chances and it has to score. The Blues can get 2 goals at even strength; they need that extra goal on the power play to get them over the hump and winning consistently.

Who to Watch for?

Jeff Deslaurier