EDMONTON — There is no getting around it: The one team in the North Division that the Edmonton Oilers have the most trouble with is undoubtedly the Montreal Canadiens, a team that has a 5-2 record versus Edmonton while limiting Connor McDavid to just two goals and eight points in seven games.
Leon Draisaitl has but three assists (no goals) and is minus-4 versus Montreal this season. Tyson Barrie also has only three points. He’s minus-5. Only goalie Mike Smith has attractive numbers against Montreal in his four appearances, with a 2-1-1 record, a 1.99 goals-against average and a .935 saves percentage.
So, beginning tonight, Edmonton will have two last stabs at slaying the dragon that is the Habs, with their towering top-four defencemen — top-three with Shea Weber out — and a neutral zone plan that has kept the Oilers at bay.
“They make us play a little bit different,” said Oilers winger Alex Chiasson. “Their top-four D, there is no easy ice for us. It’s hard to get inside. They challenge a different part of our game.
“Tonight is as close as we’ll get to a playoff intensity type of game.”
There is still a chance, however slim, that Montreal could pass Winnipeg to become Edmonton’s first-round opponent. To do that the Canadiens would have to win both of these games against the Oilers, possibly setting the table for a nervous first-round for Edmonton against a confident Canadiens club.
Oilers head coach Dave Tippett wasn’t biting when asked if his team needed to get over the hump that is the Canadiens. But the Oilers have had more success against Toronto (3-5-1) than Montreal. Edmonton wouldn’t want to get swept this week and then face the Habs a week from now in Rd. 1.
“We’re more focussed on what we have to do to make our game successful,” Tippett said. “We’ve got to concentrate on what we have to do to win. That’s what we’ve done all year, and we’re not going to change that with three games to go.”
Mikko Koskinen will start in goal, hoping to redeem himself after allowing the first four shots of the game to pass in his last start. Coming off an emotional Saturday night game in which McDavid notched his 100th point in a 4-3 win over Vancouver, this is how we expect the Oilers to line up:
Draisaitl, McDavid, Puljujarvi
Kahun, Nugent-Hopkins, Yamamoto
Neal, McLeod, Chiasson
Archibald, Khaira, P. Russell
Nurse, Barrie
Kulikov, Larsson
Jones, Bear
Koskinen
Winger Zack Kassian and defenceman Kris Russell (both lower-body injuries) are both skating back in Edmonton. Both are hopeful to be part of the Oilers playoff lineup.
With no Shea Weber (upper body), Brendan Gallagher (broken thumb) or Carey Price (concussion), you would think the second-place Oilers should be in good shape against the Canadiens. But, we’ve thought that all season, and the points Edmonton has managed to grab (five of 14) have been hard-earned to say the least.
Here is how Montreal lines up tonight:
Toffoli, Suzuki, Armia
Tatar, Kotkaniemi, Anderson
Byron, Evans, Lehkonen
Perry, Staal, Caufield
Edmundson, Petry
Kulak, Chiarot
Romanov, Merrill
Allen
Masterton Shmitty
Mike Smith is the Oilers' nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which goes to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. It was a unanimous choice by the Edmonton Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, for a player who — in his 15th NHL season — is nearly matching his career-best season of almost a decade ago.
Smith’s 2.28 goals-against average and .924 save percentage this season are second only in his career to the 2011-12 campaign, when the Arizona Coyotes rode Smith to the Western Conference Final on regular-season stats (2.21 and .930) that were just a tad better than what he is posting as a 39-year-old in Edmonton.
“Excellent choice,” began Tippett. “He’s the epitome of a guy who puts the work in and is committed to being a good player. I’ve seen him do it since he was a rookie, and he’s still doing it at 39.”
Perseverance? When you consider that Smith is on his fifth NHL organization at age 39, while having a season that compares to what Jacque Plante, Dominik Hasek, Gump Worsley and Johnny Bower did at this age, he becomes the best Oilers' Masterton candidate in a long time.
“This league’s hard. It demands a lot — physically and mentally,” said the 29-year-old veteran Chiasson. “The one thing I love about Smitty is his attitude every day. He has one mindset: he wants to win. He just loves the game, and it’s a good reminder for ourselves, and myself personally, not to take any day at the rink for granted. You want to appreciate playing in the NHL, and he’s the best example of that.”
