Oilers, Predators Lace ‘Em Up For Thanksgiving Clash
Filip Forsberg and the Nashville Predators will look to sweep the Edmonton Oilers Thursday.
Looking to earn a sweep of the season series, the Nashville Predators host the Edmonton Oilers Thursday night.
Opening faceoff at Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.
The National Hockey League’s solitary Thanksgiving matchup serves up a battle between clubs at opposite ends of the standings.
Nashville (14-5-2, 8-1-1 home) has emerged as one of the Western Conference’s standout sides through the first quarter of the season.
Peter Laviolette’s side opened the campaign 5-0-2 before suffering a defeat in regulation. That form has continued through November, with the team winning 14 of 21 overall fixtures.
Things have been a little closer over the past week. The Predators fell on the road to the Ottawa Senators last Thursday before earning back-to-back shootout victories over Florida Panthers (Saturday) and Los Angeles Kings (Tuesday).
Looking for a convincing win, a visit from the Oilers could be just the tonic the doctor ordered for the Predators.
Absent from the playoffs for the last seven seasons, Edmonton (6-14-2, 2-6-1 road) is enduring another horrific campaign.
Barring a rare purple patch towards the end of October that saw the side win four straight, the Oilers – finding it hard to score and even harder to keep goals out – have struggled to record victories. The club enters Thursday’s game having lost seven straight and 11 of the last 13.
The Oilers suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Stars in their last outing on Tuesday.
Head-to-Head
Edmonton is 26-28-3-4 all-time against Nashville.Nashville is 32-23-3-3 all-time against Edmonton.
The Predators are 2-0 against the Oilers this season, having picked up a 4-1 road win on October 29 and a 3-2 home win on November 11. The latter started the Oilers’ current seven-game losing streak.
Impact Players
Nashville’s offense is spearheaded by center Filip Forsberg, who leads the team in goals (9), assists (13) and points (22).
Center Mike Ribeiro (5G, 12A, 17pts) and defenseman Shea Weber (6G, 7A, 13pts) are also having strong seasons.
Much of the Predators’ success has boiled down to having Pekka Rinne (14-3-1) in net. The goaltender has compiled a 1.97 goals against average and a .927 save percentage in 18 games.
Edmonton has relied on winger Jordan Eberle (4G, 11A, 15pts), center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (5G, 9A, 13pts) and winger Taylor Hall (8G, 5A, 13pts) to should the offensive load.
Neither of the side’s two goaltenders – Victor Fasth (2-5-1, 3-32 GAA) and Ben Scrivens (4-9-1, 3.35 GAA) are having what would be considered a solid season.
Injury Report
Edmonton will be without forward Benoit Poliot, currently out indefinitely with a foot injury.
Nashville forwards Mike Fisher (Achilles) and Viktor Stalberg (lower body) are both out indefinitely.
Check out the injury report in full
Can Jordan Eberle and the Oilers pull off a Thanksgiving upset?
Betting Report
Below you’ll find Betting Sports’ breakdown of odds and betting trends.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Nashville Predators odds for 11/27/2014
Moneyline: Nashville (-212) opened as the favorite over Edmonton (+180) on the moneyline and has seen its advantage stretch ahead of the puck dropping.
The Predators enter Wednesday night’s game winners of two straight and eight of the last 11. The Oilers meanwhile have lost seven on the bounce.
Nashville has won 12 of the last 17 head-to-head meetings between the clubs at Bridgestone Arena.
Total: The total sits at 5.
Both Edmonton (9-11-2 O/U) and Nashville (5-12-4 O/U) have favored the under this season.
November’s head-to-head matchup finished with the under paying out while October’s game ended with a push.
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