HAPPY BIRTHDAY McDavid!!!
Preview:
OILERS vs. SHARKSSTREAM: 8:30 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet West
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers will wrap up the California part of their four-game road trip with a stop at the SAP Center to take on the 13-22-8 San Jose Sharks.
Edmonton is coming off a dominating performance down the road in Anaheim, where they put up a season high 53 shots on the Ducks in a 6-2 victory. The Oilers opened the scoring early courtesy of a snipe by Dylan Holloway, who was elevated to the Oilers top line with Kailer Yamamoto and Connor McDavid.
"Tyson (Barrie) made a really good pinch down, rimmed it below the net, and then I was just alone in front and McDavid made an incredible backhand pass to me," Holloway said about the goals. "I was able to tap it in and it was awesome that it was able to go in."
McDavid would also find the back of the Ducks net himself, with a sublime turn off the half wall before roofing the backhand shot on Ducks starter John Gibson for his 35th of the season. Klim Kostin scored twice, including an excellent solo effort on a Ducks turnover that he whipped five hole on Gibson, and narrowly missed the hat trick in the third period with a slapshot in the slot off the iron.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his 20th of the season, to join McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman as the fourth Oiler to reach that milestone this season.
Jack Campbell picked up his 10th win of the season while filling in for Stuart Skinner, who is back home awaiting the birth of his first child. Campbell turned aside 21 of 23 Anaheim shots on the evening as he has slowly rounded into form as of late for the Oilers.
Friday night's contest will be the first of three games against the second-worst team in the Pacific Division, with San Jose sitting only six-points ahead of the last place Ducks.
Sharks Team Scope
The Sharks have been struggling to say the least this season, with just 13 wins in their first 43 games of the season. The California club is coming off a 4-3 defeat to the State rival Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday.
San Jose's top forward in Timo Meier, who has 43 points (24G, 19A) in 43 games, scored just over midway through the third period to deadlock the score at 2-2 -- however, the Kings rallied back with back-to-back goals by Gabriel Vilardi and Drew Doughty to put the game out of reach.
"This is not easy, the season we've gone through," San Jose Head Coach David Quinn said after the loss. "There's a lot of frustration because we feel like we've played better, but our record is what it is. I'm just proud of the way we competed and didn't give up. Even at 4-2, we kept playing and had chances to tie."
Although the season hasn't gone well for the Sharks thus far, it has gone well for former Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. The defenceman has re-emmerged as one of the best offensive defenders in the NHL with 56 points (13G, 43A) in 43 games, leading all NHL blueliners. The 32-year-old currently sits seventh in league scoring and is on pace for 107 points this season. If Karlsson were to reach that total, it would be the most by a defenceman since Paul Coffey recorded 113 points for the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 1988-89.
By The Numbers
The Oilers come into Friday's contest having won four-straight meetings against the San Jose Sharks... Edmonton has outscored the Californian team by a 15-7 margin over that timeframe... Connor McDavid has recorded at least a point against the Sharks in 14 consecutive games with eight goals and 13 assists in that stretch... The Oilers captain is also in the midst of an 11-game road point streak... Leon Draisaitl passed Jari Kurri for fourth all-time among Oilers players in power-play goals with his between-the-legs redirection against the Ducks on Wednesday... The German now has 108 career PPGs with the Oilers to Kurri's 107 in the Blue & Orange....
Edmonton recorded four goals in the first period against the Ducks on Wednesday, the NHL leading sixth time they have scored at least four in a frame... Timo Meier has been dangerous for the Sharks all season, leading the NHL in scoring chances with 223... San Jose has the league's worst winning percentage in one-goal games this season with a 5-6-8 record (.263 per cent)... The Sharks also have the third worst winning percentage inside their own division with a 2-7-6 record (.333 per cent)... One area the Sharks do excel at is responding to goals, with eight tallies scored within a minute of their opponent scoring...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR; Evander Kane (wrist) is on IR; Ryan Murray (undisclosed) is on IR.
SHARKS - Luke Kunin (ACL) is on IR; Markus Nutivaara (undisclosed) is on IR; Nikolai Knyzhov (Achillies) is on IR; Radim Simek (upper body) is on IR; Scott Harrington (upper body) is day-to-day....
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com
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