The Edmonton Oilers continue their six-game homestand when the Buffalo Sabres visit Rogers Place on Tuesday.
You can watch the game live on Sportsnet 360 or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630CHED, beginning at 7:00pm MT.
Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin at 6:30pm MT, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.
Read the Preview below then check back later in the afternoon following media availabilities for the Pre-Game Report.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. BUF
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Stuart Skinner
PRE-GAME RAW | Darnell Nurse
RECENT VIDEOS
PRACTICE | Battle Ready
 | Woodcroft 10.17.22
RAW | Kane 10.17.22
RAW | McDavid 10.17.22
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Sabres Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Oilers pick up pace on Monday
FUTURE WATCH: Condors earn first win
GENE'S BLOG: Goal-oriented
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Tuesday's game on Sportsnet 360 at 7:00 PM MT.

PRE-GAME REPORT

EDMONTON, AB - Puck drop between the Oilers and Sabres at Rogers Place is slated for just after 7:00 p.m., and the Oilers hope their own game is quick to follow.
The first two matchups of the season saw the Oilers rack up three goal deficits against both the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks. While the team was able to overcome the slow start agasint Vancouver, they were unable to claw all the way back against their Southern Albertan rivals. For Head Coach Jay Woodcroft and his staff, the preparation for tonight was centered around the process of getting his team's game going in the opening 20 minutes.
"I think for us, we put our focus on the process of chunking it down a little bit. What I mean by that is putting our focus on the things that go into a good start," Woodcroft said. "I think everybody in here and in the community knows that we didn't start well in our first two games. That's a fact. But for us, in order to use the word coach our way out of it, but for us, it's figuring our way out of it. It's just compartmentalized. Chunk it down into small pieces of the things that we can do better, and in the end, we have to go out and execute it."
The Oilers put themselves through a
rigorous practice on Monday
, focusing on working through traffic and offensive zone play, in hopes of jump starting the team's play early in tonight's contest. It's premature in the season for the starts to cause a panic, but all the guys in the locker room want to right the ship before it becomes a bigger issue.
"I think we're all in it together. That's the mindset we've always had here, is that coaches and players are in it together," Woodcroft said. "I use the term figuring it out. It's our job to figure it out together."

SKINNER STARTS

One player who will be getting an opportunity to help the Oilers get off on the right foot is goaltender Stuart Skinner.
The 23-year-old came into last Saturday's game in relief of Jack Campbell and turned aside all 31 Flames shots he faced, giving the Oilers a chance to come back into the contest. The performance may have put Skinner in line for more starting opportunities in the near future.
"I wouldn't want to put a label on it or put myself into a box," Woodcroft said about how he plans to split the goalie starts. "For me, the season is so young right now and I thought Jack gave us a chance to win that first game, which he did. He kind of calmed the waters for us. Obviously, there are some moments that we would have liked to have back in that first game and that's how it was in the second game as well. We have some moments (as a team) that we would have wanted to have back. Stuart went in and acquitted himself really well. We got a strong belief in both guys."

When it comes to the goaltending room, there is always a fine line that needs to be tread. The locker room breeds camaraderie and lasting friendships, but it also breeds competition. With one starter crease available on a given night, both Campbell and Skinner have embraced the healthy competition as a way of growing each of their game's.
"Yeah, it's obviously an interesting situation that goalies are always put in because you are competing with each other, but at the same time you're great good buddies and you're trying to make each other better and that's exactly what we do," Skinner said. "I feel like we compete hard in practice and games, and we try to be the best goalie out there, but at the same time that's actually making both of us better. So, I think it's fantastic and he's obviously one of the best guys ever, so it's been a lot of fun."
"Not only are they good goaltenders, they're good people and good teammates. They cheer for each other, but when it's their net, they want to keep it," Woodcroft said. "I would say it's very healthy when that type of atmosphere is the one that you have for your goaltending department."
Skinner has come a long way since he last faced the Sabres in his third-ever NHL start back on November 12, 2021. The Sabres came away with the 3-2 win on that night, but tonight they will be facing a more experienced and more established goaltender with something to prove.

YOUNG, WILD, AND D

The Oilers will be inviting a Sabres squad to Rogers Place with a lot of exciting young players on the backend -- most notably the pair of former first-overall picks in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
The duo is well regarded for their offensive prowess with Dahlin scoring 53 points (13G, 40A) from the blueline last season, while Power was an offensive powerhouse in his final season at the University of Michigan. As with most young defenders, the defensive side of the game is still an aspect of their game that is a work in progress.
"I would say that playing defense in the National Hockey League, especially as a young person is a tall challenge. Best league in the world, the best forwards in the world. There's a level of physicality that you need to have, a level of strength that you need to have," Woodcroft said about the youthful defenders. "We like to say that defenseman's job at this level is to defend first and then let the offense come off that. There's a lot of theories out there regarding young defenses in the NHL and some say that you don't really know what you have until they've played about 200 games. I don't know about the accuracy of that but that is something that gets floated."

The Oilers are no strangers to moulding highly drafted offensive defenceman, with former 10th-overall-pick Evan Bouchard playing a major role for the club last season. The ex-London Knight racked up an impressive 43 points (12G, 31A) while playing a solid 19:48 per game as a 22-year-old in the National Hockey League.
Teaching a defender with offensive skill - strong skating, passing ability, and hockey IQ - to defend is a much easier task that squeezing offence from a player who hasn't shown it in the past, but there is a balance in having these young players focus on defending, without stamping out the tantalizing offensive abilities that helped get them to the NHL.
"I think the skill sets that both of those young defence men have, it's exciting for the future of the National Hockey League, and I throw Dahlin in that mix too," Woodcroft said. "I think that you never want to coach the offence out of them. It's about just making sure that priority, certainly here in Edmonton for Bouch, is put on defending hard and letting your offence come through organically."
Another young defender, on the opposite end of the skill set spectrum, may also make his season debut tonight after getting called up from the Bakersfield Condors on Monday.
The bruising Markus Niemelainen is available to be called upon if Jay Woodcroft decides to switch up to his familiar 11-and-7 look against the Sabres.
"He has a good sense of timing. He's such a great skater that he closes quickly, too. And when you combine timing with the ability to skate, I think that makes him dangerous, and he's certainly a valued member of our back end," Woodcroft said about the defender.
Unlike players like Dahlin, Power, and Bouchard who are likely to wow you with some slick offensive flair, or a bomb of a shot from the point, you may not notice Niemelainen in a game - that is until he's crushing an opposing player into the boards or coming across the blueline.
That's just his style of game his coach says of the player whose thrown 82 hits in his 20 NHL games.
"He's the strong, silent type. Doesn't say a whole lot, but has a good sense of humor about him. And when he gets on the ice, he's all business," Woodcroft said. "We already talked about it with Jason there that he is physical, and it's probably one of the best elements."
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS vs. SABRES
STREAM: 7:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet 360
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers own a 1-1-0 record through their first two games, but both of their opening contests have featured slow starts that the players and coaches are keen to improve.
Twice the Oilers have given their opponents a 3-0 lead before finding the scoresheet, and only once have they been able to turn an early deficit into two points after Saturday night's comeback in the Battle of Alberta fell short in a 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames.
"It doesn't take much of an expert to realize that we have to better in the first five, 10, and 20 minutes of games," McDavid said. "You can't be spotting teams three-goal leads, so we've got to find a way to get off to a better start. It starts individually and obviously expands out to the whole group."

Monday's practice saw the Oilers push the pace and focus on offensive-zone cycling and working through traffic, hoping to keep puck away from their own end with sustained zone time and a good offence.
"I think there's more substance to be had in the offensive zone," Coach Woodcroft said. "I also think that's a good form of checking and it doesn't get enough credit for when you possess the puck in the offensive zone and you grind a team down."
Goaltender Stuart Skinner operated in the starter's net at practice and is expected to make his first start of the season against Buffalo after making 31 saves against the Flames in relief of Jack Campbell.
Forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi swapped right-wing spots on the first and second lines from Saturday's lineup, while Devin Shore played on the fourth line at left wing with Brad Malone's loan to the Bakersfield Condors. Additionally, defenceman Markus Niemelainen was recalled.
Sabres Team Scope
The Sabres begin their longest road trip of the season -- an eight-day, four-game trip through Alberta and the Pacific Northwest -- when they face the Oilers at Rogers Place on Wednesday.
Buffalo has split their first two games like Edmonton, defeating the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in their home opener before dropping a 4-3 result to the Florida Panthers where Sabres Head Coach Don Granato lauded his players' responses through they body language and actions after falling behind to the Cats.
"I loved that response," Granato said. "I thought this was an outstanding game two to have with a level this competitive. It showed a lot out of our guys. It's exactly what we needed and it's the best way to get better."

The Sabres carried that determination into Monday's practice, where they focused on trying to re-establish their identity from last season as an aggressive and up-tempo hockey team.
"You go into four different buildings that are tough buildings to play in, it's a hell of a challenge and we need to be challenged, because we're nowhere near where we were in rhythm and sync like were last year," Granato said on Monday. "But from the camaraderie standpoint, it's always nice to get guys on the road, even the coaches. It's just you and nobody else; it's your 23 guys and the staff. And all day long together is a real bonus."
Stopping Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid will be at the top of their priority list with the Dynamic Duo combining for 10 points (5G, 5A) in Edmonton's opening two contests. Forward Tage Thompson is likely to get line-matched against one of the halves of the Duo and knows the formidable challenge he and the Sabres have ahead of them.
"Just try not to out-chance them," Thompson said. "They're going to try to do plays every time they get the puck, and I think just being patient and waiting for opportunities, just being in their face making it difficult on them, trying to frustrate them and then make them make turnovers, and then we'll get our offense from there."
By The Numbers
The Oilers are 25-11-1 with three ties in 40 all-time home meetings vs. the Sabres but have lost seven of their last 11 home meetings (4-6-1)... The Sabres will play their first road game of the season on Tuesday and went 15-21-5 on the road last season... Tyson Barrie leads the Oilers with 12 career points against Buffalo and Cody Ceci has appeared in a team leading 34 career games against the Sabres... The Oilers have been outscored 6-1 in the first period this season... Leon Draisaitl has yet to record a first period shot this season... The Oilers are 4-for-8 on the power play this season, accounting for half of their total goals... Edmonton's 8:05 on the powerplay this season is the third lowest in the NHL... The Sabres are 0-for-8 on the power play this season and one of only two teams without a power-play goal...
Connor McDavid needs one assist to tie Paul Coffey for fifth most in franchise history... McDavid has 11 points (4G, 7A) in 11 career meetings vs. the Sabres... Evander Kane played 196 games over three seasons as a member of the Sabres, recording 118 points (68G, 50A)... Rasmus Dahlin has three points (2G, 1A) through two games this season and has 12 points (6G, 6A) in his last 10 games dating back to 2021-22... Jeff Skinner has 298 goals in 855 career NHL games and looks to become the second player from the 2010 Draft to score 300 NHL goals after Tyler Seguin (305)... Sabres goaltender Eric Comrie was born in Edmonton but has never faced the Oilers in his career...

Injury Report
OILERS - Tyler Benson (knee) is on IR; Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR; Carter Savoie (lower-body) is on IR; Raphael Lavoie (undisclosed) is on IR; Vincent Desharnais (wrist) is on IR.
SABRES - Riley Sheahan (undisclosed) is on IR; Ben Bishop (knee) is on IR.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com