By Kathryn Uggerholt

The Edmonton Oilers have found themselves in a place they know all too familiar over the past few seasons — hovering around the bottom of the NHL standings. With only two wins in their last 10 games, the team has 33 points to place them 26th overall in the league, and 13th in the West. Their current placement in the standings is troubling after getting off to such a great start to the season.

The key to the Oilers offense has been their surprisingly successful power play. Surprising may not be the right word, but they did finish with the League’s 27th ranked power play (14.5%) last season, scoring only 44 power play goals. 

This year has been a different story, as only two teams have a better man-advantage percentage. Edmonton’s power play is ranked 3rd (20.7%), with only the Vancouver Canucks and the Nashville Predators succeeding on a more consistent basis. The Oilers are also third in power play goals scored with 30, the same amount as the Pittsburgh Penguins. The only teams ahead of them are the Canucks with 36 goals, and the Philadelphia Flyers with 32.

A fiery power play is due in part to the dynamic “Kid Line” of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, and Jordan Eberle. The trio, whose combined age is only 59, has combined for 16 of the club’s 30 power play goals.

Sophomore forward Eberle has scored the most man advantage goals of the three with seven, which also ranks him 5th in the league. He also has six assists on the power play to give him 13 points, or a third of his overall points, in his 3:40 average man advantage ice time per game. Eberle is also riding a six-game point streak, which dates back to the December 15th game against the Phoenix Coyotes. Prior to the current streak, Eberle had been on another six-game point streak that was snapped when the team was shut out by the Calgary Flames on December 9th. 

Hall is also in the NHL’s top 15 players in power play goals scored with six. The winger has actually recorded more power play goals than he has scored at even strength (four).

While his total of three power play goals doesn’t place him among the leaders, Nugent-Hopkins is second in the league in power play assists to Florida Panther’s defenseman Brian Campbell, and fourth in power play assists just behind the Sedin twins and Claude Giroux. The rookie has only three goals on the power play but 15 assists. Having logged an average of 3:39 of power play TOI per contest, Nugent-Hopkins has posted the team’s highest ratio of man advantage points at 51.4% (18/35).

The Oilers have many ingredients in place with which to win games, but they have not been successful as of late. The major difference in the team’s results has been the rise in goals-against average — from a microscopic 1.5 goals per game allowed over the first 14 games (21 goals), at which point they were 9-3-2, to the current 2.77 (100/36). That means over the course of the past 22 contests, Edmonton has yielded 79 goals, or an unacceptable 3.59 GAA. Not so coincidentally, the Oilers have gone 6-15-1 in the last 22 outings.

For Edmonton to get back on track, a more defensive-conscious effort is necessary, along with better play while five-on-five. Until those adjustments are made, one can only hope the power play continues to produce in the interim.

 David Strehle contributed to this story

By Alexander Monaghan
President 

In the NHL, injuries are simply a part of the game. Yesterday, the injuries piled up with such notable names as Zdeno Chara, Ilya Bryzgalov and Claude Giroux hitting the injured list. However, the two injuries we want to focus on were especially gruesome and thanks to Twitter we have screencaps of the proof.

Option #1: Derek Dorsett lower left leg injury

Dorsett looks to have snapped something in his left leg after falling over Tim Thomas and tumbling to the ice. The problem was, he didn’t really take a tumble as much as actually falling nastily on his leg. Take a look at the gruesome evidence as Dorsett is expected to miss a significant amount of time.

Below is a screencap, courtesy of @The6000LE:

Option #2: Ladislav Smid hit in the teeth with errant stick

At 8:23 of the second period, Olli Jokinen was called for a high sticking penalty as he hit Ladislav Smid in the teeth. The impact caused Smid to bleed all over the ice and miss the rest of the second period. Smid would later return in the third period, further proof that hockey players are the toughest athletes in the world.

Below is a screencap, courtesty of ChicagoSportsJD:

So now we ask you, the reader, to vote on the most gruesome injury of the night.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Edmonton Oilers d-man Andy Sutton just doesn’t get it. In an environment where NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan is trying to make the League a safer place, he continues to make boneheaded plays that warrant suspensions. As Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynski pointed out during their phenomenal #MvsW podcast, he is quickly earning the distinction of this year’s Trevor Gillies aka the biggest bonehead.

Just over a month ago, Sutton was suspended five games for violating Rule 48.1 – Illegal Check to the Head. Not only was Sutton already a repeat offender before his clothesline on Gabriel Landeskog, he already violated the main rule that the League is trying to get rid of. Remember, Shanahan is issuing these suspensions not to punish but to teach players how to better play the game; how to better respect one another.

Apparently, the warning fell on deaf ears with Sutton, as it did in the past. Not counting his more recent suspension at the beginning of the season, Sutton was suspended on four other occasions while playing for several other clubs. Let’s take a look at the video, courtesy of NHL.com.

The above video will show some of Sutton’s past indiscretions. It shows hits from behind, blindside hits and the aforementioned clothesline. The bottom line is Sutton is a dirty player and the only way to finally get through to a player of his caliber is a lengthy, perhaps indefinite, ban from the NHL. Such a move worked for the now-reformed Matt Cooke. Todd Bertuzzi looks like a changed man as well. If he can’t then adjust his game, well there always is a chance to play for Vityaz Chekhov.

Eight games tied James Wisniewski for the largest ban the League has doled out. However, it does not necessarily mean that there is parity between the two hits. To be frank, Wisniewski made that infamous hit on Cal Clutterbuck because he is an idiot. He either thought Clutterbuck would still hit him or he thought he would get away with it with the ‘what did I do?’ excuse. Sutton, on the other hand, had oncoming forward Alexei Ponikarovsky lined up for a clean hit and simply delivered a leaping tackle to his face. Not only did he target the head but he sent Ponikarovsky’s head directly into the boards which could have caused a very serious injury.

In that same context, Wisniewski’s hit could have also caused major injury to Clutterbuck as the forward was not protecting himself whatsoever. However, the force was not as deliberate. He didn’t charge after Clutterbuck, he just laid into a player who was already heading in his direction. Again, it was dumb but not malicious.

Sutton is a rare breed and brings a physical presence to the Oilers defense that they have not had since Chris Pronger patrolled the blue line. Regardless, the veteran needs to adjust his game to play a hard-hitting style that does not hurt his team with penalties or in this case missing games. Adam McQuaid, Matt Greene and Ryan O’Byrne are examples of players with similar heights who can do everything Sutton does — hit everything that moves while maintaining a nasty presence in front of the net — and do it legally.

This instance was a great chance for Shanahan to teach Sutton a lesson on how the game needs to be played and for that I feel he did not do enough to the 6’5″ d-man.

By Kathryn Uggerholt, NHLHS Edmonton Oilers Correspondent

Who are these Edmonton Oilers?

The squad had a strong opening month that was highlighted with success from rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and a six-game winning streak that stretched into the first game of November. Edmonton, who was once third in the league, has more losses in November than they do wins and seem to be settling into the place most critics figured they would fall into quickly.

This up and down start to the season is nothing to fret about quite yet because the NHL is only two months in to a long season. Despite being early in the season, it is hard to determine just where the Oilers might head as November comes to a close.

It came as a surprise to all – even Oilers fans – when the team came out so strong in October. The outstanding play from veteran goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin seemed to shock everyone as he lead the league statistically and showed off those numbers with stellar performance on the ice. 2010’s first-overall pick Taylor Hall was really coming into his own, and this year’s first overall pick Nugent-Hopkins was proving that he could hang in the league with a goal in his first game and a hat trick in his third.

Then suddenly a six-game winning streak was snapped and the Oilers began to look like the team fans knew from years past and the players doing so well started to slump. Hall could not find any of his offense and apparently neither could the rest of the team as they could barely get more than two goals in a game.

Looking at the schedule, one could easily point at the home ice advantage that was carrying the team to victory. In their eight home games in October, the Oilers got a point in all but one, and lost only two. In three away games, however, they lost two. November started with a six-game road trip, where Edmonton struggled to score goals and find the win column. They lost four of the six games, never scoring more than three goals, and seemingly most of those were scored by Ryan Smyth.

Just as Oilers fans may have wanted to start hanging their heads, Edmonton topped the Chicago Blackhawks 9-2 this past Saturday night.  Nugent-Hopkins became the first 18-year-old to ever record five assists in a game; he is also only the fourth 18-year-old to record five points in a game. Prior to Saturday, the Oilers had not scored more than eight goals in a game since a 10-1 victory over Calgary in 1996, when a lot of the current roster was not even ten years old. That game also saw a second-career hat trick from Taylor Hall, as well as nine skaters tallying points – including Jordan Eberle and Tom Gilbert each recording a goal and four points.

A flash in the pan or will the Oilers soon be back to their winning ways? The game following such an offensive explosion was a 4-1 loss to Sheldon Souray and the Dallas Stars, so no one can be too sure.

Going on statistics, this team has all the ingredients for success as the season carries on. They’re 6^th in the league for their power play with a PP% at 20.7% and 7^th for their penalty kill at 86.8%. Just for comparison, they finished last year 27th for power play and 29^th for penalty kill. Still looking at the numbers, it is not surprising that Smyth is 17^th in the league and Nugent-Hopkins is 20^th each with 20 points. Though his stats may be slipping a little, Khabibulin is still getting the starts as Devan Dubnyk has yet to get two back-to-back games.

So where does the team go from here? While they have all the pieces to climb up the standings, only time – and games – will tell.

By Patrick Powell

Through Wednesday night’s action, every NHL team save the New York Islanders has reached double digits in games played for the 2011-2012 campaign. Every team is beginning to develop an identity, and General Managers are watching closely to determine whether it may be time for a trade.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the early stages of the season is the young Edmonton Oilers. 2011 first overall draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 18, has taken a firm hold of the club’s first line center position through eleven games. Nuge, as he is known, recently earned NHL Rookie of the Month honors for his stellar play in October (five goals and 11 points) while playing with fellow youngsters Taylor Hall, 19, and Jordan Eberle, 21. The entry-level contracts of Hall and Eberle will expire after the 2013 season. Currently, the Oilers have approximately $3.5 million in available cap space (per CapGeek).

Despite being in first place in the Northwest Division, the Oilers are getting paltry contributions from forwards other than the young first liners and 35-year-old perennial fan favorite, Ryan Smyth (five goals, 10 points). Oft-injured Ales Hemsky has dressed for only two games thus far, but he may be available sometime during the Oilers’ current road trip. Hemsky is a dazzling player when healthy, but his $4.1 cap hit through next season may render him expendable this season. Team captain Shawn Horcoff has done well in the faceoff circle, and lead the team’s penalty killing efforts (Oilers rank fifth in the NHL entering Thursday’s action). Horcoff is an interesting story because despite his effectiveness in the faceoff circles and in the dressing room, he carries a humongous $5.5 million cap hit. His contract runs through the spring of 2015, so given that the top trio will probably be in the market for substantial raises, the Oilers may have to make some tough decisions over the next couple of years.

The Oilers have allowed an NHL-low 18 goals through Thursday’s games. A big reason for Edmonton’s early success is the play of goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, who leads the NHL with a 1.12 goals-against average.

Despite their limited number of offensive threats, the Oilers seem to believe that they will get a boost from Hemsky, and that Ryan Jones will begin to emerge as a threat on the third line. Given that Edmonton’s most coveted trading chips are young forwards Sam Gagner and Linus Omark (who was demoted to the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons on Wednesday), rumors have swirled that the Oilers are talking to teams such as the Blue Jackets and Rangers about a blueliner.

Speculation from league sources is that the Oilers are eyeing Marc Methot ($3 million cap hit) of the Blue Jackets and Ryan McDonagh ($1.3 million cap hit) or Daniel Girardi ($3.325 million cap hit) of the Rangers. Mathematically speaking, a straight up trade involving Sam Gagner ($2.275 million) and any one of the aforementioned players would keep the Oilers under the cap.
The Oilers may be wise to acquire a young blueliner in exchange for an extraneous forward.  

Given GM Steve Tambellini’s tricky cap situation in the next couple seasons, he needs to be careful to avoid creating further difficulties in re-signing Hall, Eberle, and Nugent-Hopkins when their entry-level deals expire.

Just as he was beginning to cement his spot in the lineup, New Jersey Devils‘ forward Jacob Josefson suffered a broken right clavicle that will keep him off the ice for three to four months. Last season he missed 35 games with a torn ligament in his right hand.

Since Travis Zajac started the season on the injured reserve list, the Devils were already short staffed down the middle. Now with Josefson out, New Jersey has a gaping hole at center.

The Devils quickly called up centerman Adam Henrique, who became a victim of the numbers at the end of training camp for the opening night roster.

Then, New Jersey claimed Ryan Carter, a center who played under Peter DeBoer in Florida, after the Florida Panthers placed Carter on waivers. In 189 NHL games since the 2007-2008 season, Carter recorded 14 goals and 21 assists. He likely will not be a replacement on the top two lines.

Carter becomes a fill-in player for the bottom two lines, but the Devils still need a center for the first two lines.

But, when Petr Sykora woke up on Monday with flu-like symptoms, the Devils had no extra forwards to put in the lineup had Sykora not been able to play. Luckily Sykora took to the ice for warmups, and ended up factoring into all three of the Devils’ goals against the Los Angeles Kings, but defenseman Mark Fraser nearly had to fill in at forward.

Captain Zach Parise moved to center for the first time since college, except for a few games in the 2007-2008 season. He went 9-5 in the face-off dot against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

Regardless of the Devils’ ability to shift around players to fill the void, they desperately need a true center.

New Jersey has roughly $3.8 million in salary cap space according to CapGeek.com and Josefson’s cap hit was $900,000.

Toronto Maple Leafs center, Tyler Bozak, would be a good option for the Devils to try to acquire. Bozak’s cap hit is $1.5 million, but he proved to be a powerful threat in the face-off dot last season.

Bozak, who has four assists in six games this season, is signed through next season. However, at 25 years of age, Bozak has more experience than a few of the other options out there.

Out west, there is Kyle Turris, who remains unsigned but is trying to work out a contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. In 65 games in the NHL last season, he had a 50% face-off win percentage, but lacks the depth of experience that the Devils may need.

In 131 games, Turris recorded 19 goals and 27 assists.

Another possibility for the Devils would be to trade for Edmonton Oilers‘ Sam Gagner.

Gagner, who just returned from an injury on Saturday, needs to play with experienced wingers. He could become an very successful center, but needs the support.

If General Manager Lou Lamoriello makes a move to acquire another center, then look for him to go to the rental market.

Columbus Blue Jackets‘ forward, Samuel Pahlsson, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and boasts a $2.65 million cap hit according to Cap Geek.

The 33-year-old Swede has the Stanley Cup experience that any team desires, but he also has the ability to play against the other team’s best lines. A perfect fit for the Devils, Pahlsson is a center that can play on one of the top two lines and be defensively responsible.

Since the Columbus has only one win this season, they might be ready to complete a trade to switch some things up.

Though ailed by an injury recently, Jochen Hecht, 34, would make a good addition to the Devils. His success in the face-off dot and his defensive ability would be a big asset.

Daymond Langkow and Olli Jokinen are also possibilities.

Langkow is in his second stint with the Coyotes. Through eight games this season, he scored five points.

Though, Jokinen, 32, does not have the experience in the postseason that may be necessary for the Devils. But hopefully by the time playoffs roll around, the Devils will have Zajac and Josefson.

Josefson’s loss created a huge setback for the Devils, but they proved they can rebound without necessarily having a top centerman.

Patrick Powell
Salary Cap Analyst 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File: David_Booth.jpg

In analyzing this deal , the proverbial “elephant in the room” is the disparity in age and potential upside of the players involved. Booth is 26, Reinprecht is 35, Samuelsson is 34, and Sturm is 33. The latter two seem on the downsides of their respective careers whereas Reinprecht, who has probably peaked as well, will remain dead weight in the AHL. Booth clearly has the highest potential of any player in the deal, but he arguably also carries the greatest health risk due to his 54 game campaign in 2009-2010 after suffering multiple concussions.

Reinprecht had been playing in the AHL, and recently reported to Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. As a result, his full season cap hit of $2.05 million will not adversely affect the Canucks, who are now within $87,000 of the cap. Booth carries a full year cap hit of $4.25 million versus $2.5 million for Samuelsson and $2.25 million for Sturm.

The Panthers still have over $9 million in salary cap space, and they now have the maximum of 23 players on their active roster. GM Dale Tallon added experience to a young roster with this move but moreover cleared future cap space. He was not afraid to make a move that sends away potential in return for flexibility, which begs the question: Will we see more deals like this?

Booth is currently signed through 2015 as he previously committed himself to the Panthers just one season before Tallon took over the team. He was traded before his production severely dropped off, which makes the deal somewhat unique. A similar deal in length, like Shawn Horcoff‘s pact with the Edmonton Oilers, certainly would not relate since the pivot lost most of his trade value when he signed his new deal. The same should be said for Scott Gomez, whose contract extends through 2014 but is already the most discussed topic in Montreal.

A similar deal to the Booth trade could be the Calgary Flames moving players like Curtis Glencross, Rene Bourque or less likely Olli Jokinen, David Moss and Niklas Hagman. GM Jay Feaster would be willing to sacrifice potential (let’s face it outside of Roman Horak, Mikael Backlund and T.J. Brodie there are no young options) for added salary flexibility for the future. Building around their younger players looks like the right way to go as the front office in Calgary finally understands cap efficiency.

Another interesting option is left wing Blake Comeau, who may have permanently found coach Jack Capuano’s doghouse. The former 47th overall pick scored more than Booth last season and as Chris Botta of The New York Times hinted, via Twitter, Comeau’s value is severely decreasing with decreased playing time. This scenario may perfectly mirror that of Booth’s as Comeau could help a contender in need of secondary scoring while preventing GM Garth Snow from investing further resources on a depreciating asset down the line.

The next option for another blockbuster could involve the currently held out Kyle Turris. We know he wants to be traded and GM Don Maloney may be forced to trade him at below his market value in order to get some usable assets for him this season. Furthermore, his subtraction would clear salary cap space for the future as the team would not have to pay him in excess of $4 million this year and likely more down the road — especially when considering his unproven talents.

Then again, the Panthers and Canucks could hook up once more. In fact, one would be foolish to rule out Mikael Samuelsson getting sent back to Vancouver once healthy as he did work in coach Alain Vigneault‘s system. Of course, this trade would not be the second, or the third even between these teams in recent years.

This deal marks the second blockbuster involving these clubs but fourth transaction in recent memory. In 2006, the Canucks acquired starting goalie Roberto Luongo, defenseman Lukas Krajicek, and sixth round draft choice (Canucks drafted Sergei Shirokov) in exchange for forward Todd Bertuzzi, goaltender Alex Auld, and defenseman Bryan Allen. Other players like Keith Ballard, Michael Grabner and Christopher Higgins have also switched jerseys over the last couple of seasons.

As Bill pointed out in his piece, Tallon sought to send a message to his young Panthers’ club with this move: you need to perform to stay. Will this message reverberate to other teams in the league? For example, the Blue Jackets (0-7-1) Sharks (3-3-0), Flames (2-4-1), Canadiens (1-4-2), and Bruins (3-5-0) have all performed below expectations in the early going. Players with these teams, particularly those earning over $4 million per season, may feel the heat from Tallon’s move. Perhaps GMs from these teams will ensure to cite David Booth as an example to demonstrate that subpar efforts will not be tolerated, and that no player is safe.

Alexander Monaghan also contributed to this article.

This weekend, Sam Gagner could return to the Edmonton Oilers lineup, placing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins under the spotlight more than ever. Has he proved he should stay with the club after nine games?

The question arises now as to whether or not Nugent-Hopkins will stay, or even play, as coach Tom Renney said he is considering benching the rookie in the team’s tilt against the New York Rangers on Saturday night. Renney is likely trying to buy time to put off the decision of sending Nugent-Hopkins back to the WHL to play with the Red Deer Rebels but he probably does not need to.

As it stands Friday, the center leads the team in points through six games. Nugent-Hopkins has four goals and five points, just one ahead of veteran Ryan Smyth. It should be noted that each of those goals has been a milestone in one way or another. The first came at the game tying goal in the Oilers’ season opening game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, his first career goal in his first career game. The next three goals all came in a match up with the Vancouver Canucks as his first career hat trick.

The young forward may not be the best at taking face-offs but it is undeniable that he should remain in Edmonton. The way that Nugent-Hopkins dominated the WHL last year and excelled on his team  just goes to show that there is nothing left for him to learn there. He has certainly earned a job but whether the team finds it prudent to keep him is the real question.

There is a lot of depth at center for the Oilers, especially with the return Gagner who put up 42 points last year. Though more experience may be more desired, a team chock full of rookies is a perfect place for the teenager to learn. In preseason, he gained chemistry on a line with both Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, and in regular season, he continues to click with Hall.

Critics still point out the size of Nugent-Hopkins and how it can work against him but so far he has been fine — just a few years ago Patrick Kane proved he could play at a smaller size directly following his draft year. His small size allows him to be quick and he has plenty of teammates ready to stick up for him. The best he can do is continue to try and bulk up (at the risk of losing speed) as the season goes on but returning him to juniors would do nothing on that part.

A major thing Nugent-Hopkins needs to work on is face-offs. As a result of his struggles he took only three face-offs in the game against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. Putting in Gagner over Nugent-Hopkins would be counter-effective as the team is rebuilding. Nevertheless. the team will have some tough decisions to make as the schedule wears on.

By Kathryn Uggerholt

The Edmonton Oilers are currently undefeated with a 2-1 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in their season opener. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ first career goal was the game-tying marker before it went to a shootout. Jordan Eberle and Alex Hemsky hit the back of the net on their shootout chances, while Devan Dubnyk stood tall between the pipes stopping two of the three shooters he faced. Coach Tom Renney is now 8-0 in home openers.

Less than three minutes into the game the Oilers already found themselves down a man when Ryan Smyth was a little too happy to be on the home team at Rexall Place once again. He jumped on the ice too soon and the refs whistled the Oilers for too many men on the ice when he tried to jump back at 2:33 of the opening frame. A shot from Kris Letang trickled past the goal line through Dubnyk’s five-hole at just 3:13 to give the Penguins a one goal lead.

Despite hard play, no one on the Oilers could take advantage of four power play opportunities they had in the first period – even with a 5-on-3 chance.

The middle stanza was scoreless but that’s when things turned around for the Oilers and Nugent-Hopkins got his name on the boxsheet. Nugent-Hopkins took a tripping penalty for his first career penalty minutes. Playing in his first NHL game, the first overall pick struggled with faceoffs where he would eventually only go 2-for-16 but he made up for it.

Late in the third period Taylor Hall made a beautiful pass out to the front of the net. Jeff Petry could not get it past Brent Johnson but Nugent-Hopkins backhanded it into the net to tie the game at 15:05.

“It was a relief. I just wanted to do everything I could to try and create something,” he said to the Edmonton Journal, “It worked out.

A mere 30 seconds after the game was tied up Smyth got a five-minute major penalty for an elbow on Chris Kunitz. It gave the Penguins a power play for the remainder of the game but the Oilers managed to kill that off and it carried over into overtime.

Both teams had a lot of opportunity but perhaps the best for the Oilers came from Hall. He served Smyth’s penalty and when time was up he jumped up on the play but still could not score.

After making 33 saves on 34 shots in regulation, Dubnyk only faced a single shot in overtime. It came 16 seconds into the extra play and rang the crossbar.

Eberle and Hemsky scored in the shootout while Linus Omark’s fancy shot just missed the net. James Neal scored for the Penguins but Dubnyk stopped the other two shooters to get the home opening win.

Just a sidenote, the last time a first overall pick scored in his first NHL game was October 3rd 2009 when John Tavares notched a goal and an assist. That debut was also against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but against Marc-Andre Fleury.

By Kathryn Uggerholt

The Edmonton Oilers preseason got hockey fans talking for more than a couple of reasons.

High Points

• Of the eight preseason games, the Oilers won five.  They defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 2-4, the Calgary Flames twice by finals of 2-1 and 3-0, the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2 and the Minnesota Wild 4-3.

• In one of the wins against the Calgary Flames, Devan Dubnyk recorded a shutout when he made 30 saves.

• Ales Hemsky took to the ice for the first time since March.  Hemsky injured his shoulder and had surgery on it in that month and missed the end of the season.  He had 15:57 minutes of ice time with 3:27 of that coming on the power play.

• The “Kid Line” of Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins amassed a total of seven points in a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.  Nugent-Hopkins scored late in the opening period on the power play with one of the assists going to Hall.  In the second period, Hall scored twice with an assist coming from Nugent-Hopkins on both and Eberle on one.  To break down where the points were, Hall had three, Nugent-Hopkins had three and Eberle had one.

• The 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild. With late goals from Linus Omark and Ryan Jones, the Oilers and Wild went to overtime and then a shootout when Anton Lander got the winner.

• Anton Lander proved to the team that he is good on breakaways.  In the first period of the Wild victory he scored on a penalty shot, and then scored in the shootout to win the game.

Low Points

• Prior to official preseason, forward Ben Eager sustained a concussion in the Joey Moss Cup game.  Coach Renney says it is not severe but he also does not know the length of time in which Eager will be out.

• Sam Gagner injures his ankle in 2-1 win over the Flames.  He crashed into the boards but then skated away under his own power.  News later came out that he had a high ankle sprain.

• The lowest point of the preseason would be the injury to Taylor Fedun.  While racing for the puck to avoid an icing call, Fedun got Eric Nystrom‘s stick blade caught in his skate and crashed into the boards — foot first.  The crash resulted in Fedun fracturing his femur.  Coach Renney said that Fedun had surgery that night and remained in a hospital in Minnesota.  He needed a rod inserted into his femur.

• The hits kept coming in the following game.  Victor Oreskovich threw a hard hit on Nugent-Hopkins that sparked a bit of controversy amongst the teams.  That clean hit was followed up by two questionable hits delivered by Alex Edler and Marco Sturm.  Edler received a minor penalty for an elbow on Hall and Sturm did as well as for an elbow on Lennart Petrell.  There is debate over whether or not the two hits should be reviewed.