PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Ducks

The Edmonton Oilers wrap up a two-game set at Rogers Place with a Saturday afternoon meet-up with the Anaheim Ducks.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 2:00 p.m. MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin 30 minutes before puck-drop, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Ducks

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers finish off a brief two-game homestand at Rogers Place with a matinée meeting against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday afternoon as they look to build on Thursday night’s victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

The Oilers have won all three contests against the Ducks this season, outscoring them 20-7 after Evander Kane recorded a hat-trick in their last meeting back on Feb. 9 at the Honda Center where Edmonton erased three separate one-goal leads to claim the two points in a 5-3 victory.

On Thursday night, the Oilers prevailed 4-1 over the Kings in what could be a precursor to another first-round meeting between Edmonton and Los Angeles in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The win moved Edmonton five points ahead of LA for second place in the Pacific Division and only six back of the Vancouver Canucks with two games in hand and one head-to-head matchup still to go against the division leaders over their remaining 11 regular-season games.

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said he liked the effort he saw from his side on Thursday in the post-season tune-up after seeing his team settle in for a defensively and physically demanding 60 minutes and execute well enough to earn two important points.

“We should feel really good about how we played, how well we checked and the intensity of our game. It was a very playoff-like atmosphere,” Knoblauch said.

“Our forwards did a heck of a job reloading and getting above their checks. I thought we were committed through the neutral zone; very limited turnovers in that situation. We would’ve liked to create a little more offensively, but you have to take what they give and they didn't give us very much. I definitely liked the effort from our team.”

The Oilers don't want to let their effort levels drop in a potential 'trap game' against the Ducks this Saturday, who are near the bottom of the Pacific Division and the NHL overall standings with 52 points and a 24-45-4 record while losing nine of their last 10 games (1-8-1).

After experiencing a drop in their performance between two contrasting opponents earlier this month – getting past the powerhouse Boston Bruins in overtime before falling two days later to the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets – Coach Knoblauch doesn’t want to see his team underestimate their opponent and instead stay focused on the task of adding two more important points to their totals in a tightly-packed Pacific Division.

“We saw it after the Boston game where we played so well, and then the next game in Columbus, we fell short,” he said. “We need to make sure that we're consistent at a high level and hopefully, we match the effort that we had last game.”

Coach Knoblauch confirmed that Sam Carrick will be in the Oilers lineup to take on his former team along with Adam Henrique, who scored his third Oilers goal in his 900th NHL game on Thursday against the Kings. The bench boss followed up that the decision about who would come out for the 32-year-old centre has yet to be made.

"Every game's an opportunity," Carrick said. "Obviously, it's special playing against my old teammates, but I'm looking forward to it. It should be fun to see everyone and it should be good to get back in."

Carrick has been in and out of Edmonton's lineup since his acquisition along with Henrique from Anaheim before the trade deadline, but says that he's excited to contribute in any way possible to a very motivated and driven Oilers locker room as the games get more and more important down the stretch.

"It's good. It's a very veteran team here, I think one of the older teams if not the oldest in the league, so that's great," he said. "A lot of guys that have gone on some deep playoff runs, and that shows for sure in the poise inside that room. There's no panic at all.

"It's fun to be a part of. I'm learning a ton from a lot of the guys and I think everyone's super competitive in this room. It doesn't matter if it's late March or the first game of the playoffs – every game feels like it's a very important game. And, you know, we're, we still got lots to play for till the end of the season here for standing. So it's been a lot of fun. It's been very serious and competitive, and it's been great."

Carrick has never been to the Stanley Cup Playoffs over his 12-year NHL career and can already feel the excitement building around his new city of Edmonton.

"Yeah, for sure. Obviously it's in the back of our mind and it's what we're working for. It's what we play for, so it's exciting," he said. "You can feel the buzz for sure. You can feel the city of Edmonton is excited and we're super excited, so it's going to be fun."