Tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET, the Edmonton Oilers (11-19-3, 25 points) and Vancouver Canucks (7-2-1, 15 points) hit the ice at the Rogers Arena in the second of five meetings against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. Edmonton fans can hear all of the action on CHED 630 while Vancouver fans can do the same on TEAM 1040.
Edmonton enters play on the back of a disappointing loss and will try to bounce back while Vancouver is a perfect 5-0-0 in December and has won the first three games of a five-game homestand. The first time these two teams met, the Canucks dominated Edmonton with a 6-2 victory on Oct. 5 in Vancouver.
The Canucks have enjoyed much success to open up their homestand and will look to continue it tonight after having two days off to prepare for back-to-back home games this weekend.
"If I have an opportunity to give them a day or two off, especially with our schedule," coach John Tortorella said Thursday via NHL.com, "I'm going to give it to them."
The Oilers came out to a great start in their game against the Boston Bruins on Thursday before a mental lapse in the final 10 minutes of the first period led to three goals for Boston in an eventual 3-2 win for the Bruins. Aside from that 10 minute span, Edmonton hung in there and even scored two goals as a response to their early 3-0 hole.
"Even in the first, I didn't think we were horrible. I thought we were a victim of circumstance a little bit," Oilers coach Dallas Eakins said per NHL.com. "Maybe not totally comfortable in our skin in the first, but in the second and third, obviously that's how we want to play."
Edmonton has been led by Jordan Eberle, who has 28 points off of 11 tallies and 17 helpers while David Perron (14 goals, 13 assists) and Taylor Hall (12 goals, 15 assists) each have 27 points. Perron has five goals and nine points in the Oilers' last five games. Perron scored both Edmonton goals in the loss to Boston.
The Sedin twins have once again been the backbone of the Canucks, pacing the team as the top two scorers. Henrik Sedin has a team-high 29 points off of eight goals and 21 assists while Daniel Sedin follows closely behind with 28 points off of 10 tallies and 18 helpers. Ryan Kesler has lit the lamp 15 times and added eight assists for 23 points.
Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo is 3-0-0 in December and has allowed just four goals in his last three starts. Luongo is expected to man the crease tonight and is 14-8-5 overall with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. With Ilya Bryzgalov (head) sidelined, Devan Dubnyk is likely to get the start for the Oilers and is 9-13-2 with a 3.36 GAA and a .890 save percentage this season.
The Oilers look to bounce back from a tough loss while the Canucks are aiming for their sixth win in a row this month when the lights come up at Rogers Arena tonight in Vancouver.
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