Pre-Game: September 29th - Phoenix Coyotes

    Phoenix Coyotes

Since it is the preseason, we will post the lines instead of scratches:

       LW                                      C                                   RW
 Magnus Paajarvi                    Sam Gagner                   Ales Hemsky


 Dustin Penner                    Andrew Cogliano                 Gilbert Brule


 Liam Reddox                        Colin Fraser                       Ryan Jones


  Alex Giroux                         Ryan O'Marra                    Colin McDonald



                            D                                           D
                     Ladislav Smid                            Alex Plante
   

                   Taylor Chorney                           Tom Gilbert
     

                    Richard Petiot                           Kurtis Foster
             


                                                   G
                                         Jeff Deslaurier

Matchup(s) of the Night:

 1.) Gagner Vs Turris:
    It's the battle of the 2007 draft. The Oilers were trying desperately to move up in the draft to pick Turris, but failed and ended up with Gagner. Every 100 light years, the stars align and the Oilers catch a break instead of getting royally screwed...like they do 95% of the time. Gagner (taken 6th overall) is an established NHL player, while Kyle (drafted 3rd overall) has been trying to find his game at the college and AHL level. He has only played in 66 NHL games, while Sammy has  a whopping 223 games under his belt. I'm sure Gagner would love to prove to Edmonton that they made the right choice.

2.) Paajarvi Vs Bryzgalov:
 
   Can Maggie repeat his performance against an all-star goaltender? Bryzgalov is going to show the NHL that last year was no fluke, but with a weaker and younger defense; he will endure a bigger workload. M.P.S is gifted offensively (obviously), and with Hemsky and Gagner feeding him the puck today I can see a similar kind of night for him, as his previous game. Could you imagine if he potted back to back hat-tricks? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, enough to make a flames fan cry himself to sleep. 

Keys to the Game:
 
    The Oilers top line will go for the quick strike with all that speed and skill, but when the game slows down they need to work the puck in the corners. Hemsky loves to cycle the puck, and with M.P.S' big body they will wear down the Yotes' defenders. Phoenix has 3 regulars in on the back end, and possibly 5 when you add Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and David Schlemko to the equation. Edmonton is dressing a soft line-up tonight, while the Coyotes have their resident tough guy Paul Bisonette in. Phoenix will have many opportunites on the PP because the only Oiler defenders who are in and skate well are Chorney, and Gilbert. Also add to the fact that Chorney doesn't know what he is doing half the time, and this spells trouble for the blueline. The Oilers will need to play a very good two way game in order to keep the puck out of the net. 


Player Analysis:

   Tonight is do or die for Ryan Jones as he hasn't played in the previous exhibition games due to injury. He is battling with J.F Jacques and Reddox, for that 4th line crash and bang energy guy. Jones has put up decent numbers in the past in a bottom 6 role. He needs to play physical and get in hard on the fore check. He has a slight advantage over Jacques as he can play on the PK and this could save him a roster spot. I'm sure Renney will put him out there the majority of the time when they are a man down.

    Jeff Deslauriers will given his first and probably only start in the pre-season. It seems that Oil management are leaning towards Dubnyk right now, but with him struggling this could be J.D.D's saving grace. He tends to let in soft goals early, and is very unsure of himself when the pucks on his stick. He needs to play with some confidence and swagger, as this might be his only chance. Traditionally J.D.D is stellar against Phoenix, so get'cha popcorn ready because he's going to put on a show.

    We already know that the defense is almost locked up. Gilbert, Whitney, Smid, Foster, Vandermeer, but that last spot is up for grabs. Everyone is debating between Peckham and Belle, but nobody has mentioned Petiot. We were very surprised how he well he skated and how much composure he played with. Petiot could very much steal that 6th defenseman spot. He needs to be the best defenseman out there today, as it seems Tambo has placed the OKC tag on him already. But if he turns heads tonight he could be the feel good story coming out of training camp.