By GENE PRINCIPE
sportsnet.ca
As the Edmonton Oilers get set for their first meeting of the season against the Minnesota Wild their fans are probably starting to get a case of hockey fever. Well one Oiler actually has a fever at won’t play tonight.
“Ales (Hemsky) came down with it last night,” said Oilers head coach Pat Quinn. “He wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t skating this morning and that won’t change tonight as he’s out of the lineup.”
He will be replaced by Robert Nilsson who in one game this year has one point. The injury up front for Edmonton just adds to the woes they have when it comes to hurting defenceman.
Neither Steve Staios nor Sheldon Souray will pla. Each is missing a fourth game because of concussions. Right now it appears that Staios, who did come back and play one game after he was hurt against Dallas, should be back sooner than Souray.
“He just continues to be under observation,” is the way Quinn put it. “But don’t expect him to be back anytime soon. He’s not even close to doing off-ice workouts let alone getting back into a game.”
One other Oiler who is hurting but will play tonight is Shawn Horcoff. He injured his right foot blocking a shot on Wednesday versus Chicago.
“It’s sore just right where I tie my laces,” Horcoff said. “And it’s OK to walk and stuff and even to skate but when I try and push off to speed up is when it hurts the most.”
However the Oilers won’t get any sympathy from the Wild. They will be without Martin Havlat as he’s out with a groin injury. They’re also minus Pierre-Marc Bouchard because of headaches, Petr Sykora, who also has a groin problem, and last year’s NHL hits leader Cal Clutterbuck with an ankle problem.
There is one piece of good injury news as Derek Boogaard, who missed four games because of a concussion, will be in the lineup.
“We should have a lot of desperation and some urgency in our game, being 1-4,” first-year Wild coach Todd Richards said.
Facing Edmonton (3-2-1) could help Minnesota, which went 4-2-0 against its Northwest Division rivals last season. The Wild snapped a four-game skid at Rexall Place on March 29 with a 3-2 win.
“We need to go out there and make a team earn it,” Backstrom said. “Right now it seems like it’s too easy for the other team. We need to play our basic game. Now, it seems like we’re only doing it for 20 or 30 minutes, or every other shift.
Though Backstrom is 1-3-0 with a 3.01 goals-against average, he’s dominated the Oilers, going 13-1-0 with a 1.69 GAA during his career.
Brunette has a team-leading four goals and two in his last three games versus the Oilers, who open a three-game homestand after losing 4-3 at Chicago on Wednesday.
Leading scorer Dustin Penner had a goal with an assist and Nikolai Khabibulin recorded 34 saves in his first game against his former team. Edmonton, however, mustered 19 shots.
“We weren’t very good,” said Oilers coach Pat Quinn, whose team has had five games decided by one goal. “The score was flattering for us.”
Quinn hopes to see more out of his forwards when the Oilers return home where they are 2-1-1 this season. Edmonton has been outshot 197-143 through six games.
“I’m still at the stage of saying (these 12 forwards have) got to get better somehow, at least in the last game and a half.” Quinn told the Oilers’ official Web site.
Penner has three goals and four assists, but was held to one assist in six games against Minnesota last season.
Khabibulin is 2-2-1 with a 3.32 GAA in his first season with the Oilers and 3-7-2 with a 2.41 GAA against the Wild.
| Oilers | Wild |
| Comrie-Horcoff-Nilsson | |
| O’Sullivan-Gagner-Jacques | |
| Penner-Brule-Stone | |
| Moreau-Cogliano-Stortini | |
| Grebeshkov-Gilbert | |
| Visnovsky-Strudwick | |
| Smid-Chorney | |
| Khabibulin |
