Preview: Bruins’ road trip continues with a stop in Edmonton

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 8:30 PM

Where: Rogers Place - Edmonton, AB

How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Copper and Blue

Know your enemy

• 32-20-8, 72 PTS, 3rd in the Pacific Division
• Connor McDavid: 48G-65A-113PTS; Leon Draisaitl: 36G-52A-88PTS; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: 28G-44A-72PTS
• Stuart Skinner: 15-12-4, 2.90 GAA, .912 save percentage

Game notes

• The Bruins will put their six-game winning streak on the line tonight at The House That McDavid Built, facing an Oilers team that is in the precarious position of being as close to dropping out of a playoff spot as they are to the top of their division.
• Edmonton has gone through a bit of a rough patch lately, putting up a 4-2-4 mark in their last ten games. Given how important points are in the heat of a playoff race, you can consider that “points in eight games out of ten” if you’re an optimist, or just four wins in their last ten if you’re a pessimist. The choice is yours!
• Any team anchored by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is going to pile up the goals, and Edmonton is where you'd expect them to be: atop the league in GF/G at 3.83 (the Bruins are 3rd at 3.74). They also own the league’s most potent power play (32.1%).
• The Oilers are a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of goals-against (13th), but their recent run of form presents a more troubling picture for Oilers fans: Edmonton allowed six goals in Saturday night’s loss to Columbus and, during a recent four-game losing skid, allowed 6, 5, 5, and 6 goals to Montreal, Detroit, NY Rangers, and Colorado, respectively.
• Often the forgotten “other guy” from Edmonton’s wild run of super high draft picks in consecutive years, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is having a career year. His production is overshadowed by McDavid’s and Draisaitl’s, but he has already equaled his career high in goals (28) and eclipsed his career high in points (69 back in 2019).
• Tonight’s game marks the start of a bit of a gauntlet for Edmonton — their next few games look like this: vs. Bruins, vs. Leafs, vs. Jets, at Jets, at Sabres, at Bruins, at Leafs. As of Sunday night, Edmonton was four points behind Vegas (1st in the Pacific) and just two points ahead of Seattle (2nd Wild Card spot).
• With tonight being the first game of a back-to-back for the Bruins, Jim Montgomery may do some lineup shuffling to ensure that he has the freshest group possible for both games. Obviously Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman will plan to split net duties, but it also may be a chance to rotate in some guys like AJ Greer or Connor Clifton.
• As a reminder, this is an 8:30 PM Eastern start — schedule makers coming up huge for us old folks once again.

See ya tonight!