PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Sharks

The Edmonton Oilers welcome the San Jose Sharks to Rogers Place on Thursday night.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet West or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs SJS 03.24.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. SJS
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Nugent-Hopkins
PRE-GAME RAW | Brassard
PRE-GAME RAW | Kulak
RECENT VIDEOS
OILERS TODAY | Post-Game at DAL
POST-RAW | Coach Woodcroft 03.22.22
THE PANEL | Trade Deadline
RAW | Ken Holland 03.21.22
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Sharks Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Kulak coming home
GAME RECAP: Stars 5, Oilers 3
GENE'S BLOG: Deadline Day
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Thursday's game on Sportsnet West at 7:00 PM MT.
EDMONTON, AB - Two new debuts and one Nuge.
The Edmonton Oilers will officially welcome forward Derick Brassard and defenceman Brett Kulak to the fold on Thursday night, along with the return of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, when the Orange & Blue host the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place.
Brassard and Kulak will be in the Oilers lineup for the first time after being acquired at Monday's Trade Deadline, while the reintroduction of Nugent-Hopkins will feel like another deadline addition in itself after the centre missed the last 12 games with an upper-body injury.
"Definitely excited," Nugent-Hopkins said pre-game. "Tough sitting out a big stretch, especially after being out for a decent stretch just before that, so I'm excited to get back out there, be with the guys again, and keep building on the way that they've been playing."
Nugent-Hopkins watched on as his teammates battled through two tough back-to-back road games earlier in the week, including earning a point against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche in what was a statement game from an Oilers team looking to solidify a playoff spot and enter the postseason playing their best hockey.
"I think we can play against anybody in the league, and I think the guys showed it," he said. "They had some tough games at home and went to the best team in the league right now in Colorado and was there every step of the way. I know for me it was an exciting game to watch, but also, just a good confidence game for our team knowing we can step up against a team like that."
Video: PRE-RAW | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 03.24.22
To Kulak, his arrival comes at the right time to get accustomed to a new team system, teammates, and the potential pace of playoff hockey as the Oilers enter post-season mode and try to lock down a spot.
"You get that mentality going into each game, and I think it can be really beneficial being in a situation like this," Kulak said. "When the playoffs do come, you start and it's not like: 'Alright guys, we have to flick the switch and get going here. It's playoffs.' You've kind of been playing that style, so we're in a good situation."
The Oilers are officially the healthiest they've been this season with the return of Nugent-Hopkins, boasting a full lineup and unseen depth that the 28-year-old has yet to see during his 11 seasons in Oil Country with the additions of a pair of veterans in Brassard and Kulak.
"These are veteran guys who've all been around a long time in the NHL and have experience," he said. "They know how to get things done, and it's exciting for us. You add pieces and move from there.
"The depth on this team is something that I've never experienced before probably in my career here. You look up and down that lineup and you can throw almost anybody against anybody, so it's exciting. Those guys, because they are veteran guys, will be able to jump into the fold pretty quickly."
OIL DERICK
The Oilers will be the 10th NHL team of Brassard's career, and eighth in the last seasons, but moving to a team with a shot at competing for the Stanley Cup eases the transition.
"I've been traded a few times the last few years, but it's been hard mentally just moving from place to place trying to establish myself in a team and trying to get a shot to win the Stanley Cup," he said.
"I think this team is peaking at the right time, and I believe we have a chance to win here."
The Hull, QC native's stay in Philadelphia started out positively, but the Flyers' season soon began to crumble, including a franchise-record 13-game losing streak over the months of December and January that took the Broad Street club well out of the playoff race.
The games from there on out in the orange of Philadelphia felt trivial, but now Brassard will be competing night in and night out until the end of the season for two important points in the orange of Edmonton.
"For the last stretch this season here, during the 20 or 30 games, we were just kind of playing." He said. "Now a game like tonight where the two points are really important, coming back to playoff hockey, that's what you're asking for as a player. I'm really excited to be here."
Video: PRE-RAW | Derick Brassard 03.24.22
Brassard has familiarity with some faces already in the Oilers locker room having played at the World Championships with Connor McDavid and Cody Ceci, along with playing beside Ceci in Ottawa and Tyson Barrie in Colorado.
On Thursday, the 34-year-old will begin his Oilers tenure on a line with Nugent-Hopkins and Puljujarvi.
"I know both of them as players, and for me personally, I'm just going to try to come and play hockey," he said. "That was pretty much the message from the coaching staff as well, but it's just about keeping everything simple.
Brassard continued: "I've been through this before. I've been through some trades where I had to play the same night, but now I've had a couple of days. I had three games in four days] last weekend, so it was nice to get a couple of days to relax and get re-energized."
Nugent-Hopkins said there has been plenty of dialogue already in the lead-up to joining Brassard on a line for his Oilers debut tonight, and the veteran's 936 games of experience in the NHL will help ease that transition to a new club.
"We'll definitely be talking a lot before and during the game," Nugent-Hopkins said. "He's played 900 games, played with a lot of different guys I'm sure and myself as well, so we should be able to glue pretty quick. The big thing is we've got to skate and let our work bring the opportunities, but I know he's a smart player. He makes some really good plays out there, so that'll go a long way."
**KEEP YOUR KULAK**
Less nervousness, more excitement.
Stony Plain, AB product Brett Kulak doesn't recall having nerves in his first NHL game back on April 11, 2015 with the Calgary Flames, but remembers the excitement of the moment and draws comparisons to getting the opportunity tonight to pull on the sweater of the team he grew up cheering for as a kid.
"I wasn't that nervous in my first game either," he said. "You're just excited to get out there and get playing, enjoying the experience of the first game. It's the same thing tonight I think.
"I'm excited to wear the Oilers uniform and get out there, and the guys have been really great. They've been really welcoming and made me feel at home here already. Just looking forward to getting to work and start building with the team."
Kulak sees plenty of similarities between his time in Edmonton and Montreal, where the 28-year-old was traded from on Monday for a conditional second-round pick, seventh-round pick, and defenceman William Lagesson.
[Video: PRE-RAW | Brett Kulak 03.24.22
Both are experiencing increased performance under a new coach, and the hire of Martin St. Louis by the Canadiens helped elevate his game before his trade on Monday to Edmonton for a conditional second-round pick, seventh-round pick, and defenceman William Lagesson.
"It's the same thing here," he said. "Talking with Woody and the coaching staff, it works out good because the stuff they're talking to us about and teaching us is similar to where I was just coming from. I think it'll be a good fit and I'm looking forward to it."
Kulak spent plenty of time in a pairing with Jeff Petry, playing defence-first behind the offensive nature of the former Oilers d-man, and will be in a similar situation beside Tyson Barrie in his first Oilers appearance on Thursday.
"I think it's going to be good," Kulak said of playing beside Barrie. "I've watched him play some, not a tonne not really focusing on him] whenever I watch the Oilers, but just moving with him and moving the puck D-to-D today, you can tell he's a good skater and moves the puck well. He's got a lot of talent, so I think it'll be good."
Kulak hopes his experience last season in Montreal's run to the Stanley Cup Finals will benefit him in Oil Country as part of an Oilers roster that has the capabilities of pushing deep into the playoffs with plenty of depth and on-ice specialties.
"You look at the roster and there's a good mix of every style of play on the team," he said. "That's important I think going into the postseason. Looking back at last year, it was a fight right to the end to snag a point to confirm our playoff spot. Once you get in there, for us last year it was a matter of getting some good bounces and playing really good hockey at the right times to seals the deal in a couple of series.
"I'm looking forward to it. I think we'll do really well."
**LINEUP NOTES**
Addition in the case of the Oilers also means subtraction.
Head Coach Jay Woodcroft is slotting both Kulak and Brassard in on Thursday for their Oilers debuts, along with Nugent-Hopkins making his return from injury, which means that Kris Russell, Derek Ryan and Josh Archibald will be out of the lineup.
"It's incumbent on the players to make the decisions that we make difficult ones, not easy ones. I can tell you that we have a lot pf productive players, and putting together tonight's lineup was not easy. We're going to be sitting out three very good hockey players, but we're trying to do what's best for the team in order to win the game tonight.
[Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 03.24.22
A healthy lineup and new additions will create plenty of selection decisions in the coming games for Woodcroft, and the bench boss believes the lineup he'll put out tonight gives the Oilers the best chance of earning two points.
"We're trying to find a winning lineup for tonight's game," he said. "I think this is the first time that our group has returned to full health, and we're introducing some players we acquired at the Trade Deadline. So for us as a coaching staff, we're trying to ice the lineup on a particular night that's going to give us the best chance to win that game."
Woodcroft sees the Oilers adding two versatile skillsets to the group that will surely help contribute in the coming stretch to a winning culture with their strengths.
"We're excited to have the two new players," he said. "I think they bring different skillsets to our group. Obviously with Brassard, he's played up and down some lineups throughout the National Hockey League, has a tonne of playoff experience, has very good skills, and can play in the middle or on the wing. He's a good faceoff man and I'm excited to watch him play tonight.
"Obviously Kulak is a smooth-skating, defend-first defenceman that makes a good first pass and can support plays in the offensive zone. So I think both of them are excited to be here. They've comported themselves very well in the last two days, and I think they're going to add to our group."
Goaltender Mike Smith was in the starter's net during Thursday's morning skate.
View the Oilers Projected Lineup vs. San Jose
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS vs. SHARKS
STREAM: 7:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet West
Oilers Team Scope
The Edmonton Oilers couldn't close out a third-period lead in the second of back-to-back road games on Tuesday night, conceding two goals in 24 seconds in the final six minutes in an eventual 5-3 defeat against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
Kailer Yamamoto scored his sixth goal in seven games, while Evander Kane stretched his point streak to six with a shorthanded goal.
"I think it was two good hockey teams who trade punch for punch there," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said post-game. "It's disappointing the way it ended for us. Obviously we'd like to have that last six minutes or so back, but not our finest hour in that last six minutes. We'll have to learn from it and move on."
Two pieces that GM & Pres. of Hockey Ops Ken Holland added at Monday's Trade Deadline in forward Derick Brassard and defenceman Brett Kulak are slated to make their Oilers debuts on Thursday night, while Holland also revealed in his media avail that centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could make his return after almost a month out of the lineup due to an upper-body injury.
Sharks Team Scope
The San Jose Sharks scored three unanswered, including twice in 28 seconds, to pull out a victory against the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Sharks (28-27-8) are currently nine points out of a Wildcard spot with 19 games remaining in their schedule, but are not about to give up hope as they try to win their third straight on Thursday night in Edmonton. If they were to miss the playoffs, it would be the first time in franchise history they've failed to reach the postseason for three consecutive years.
"We're going to battle here and see what happens these last 19 games, but it's a good feeling in the locker room right now," Logan Couture said. "We want to build off of it."
James Reimer made 28 saves in goal for San Jose versus Calgary, and deadline acquisition Kappo Kahkonen is expected to make his Sharks debut against the Oilers after backing up Reimer following his trade to the club from the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
By The Numbers
The Oilers won their only meeting this season with the Sharks 3-0 on Feb. 14, outshooting San Jose 41-20 and receiving goals from Warren Foegele, Connor McDavid and Darnell Nurse... The Sharks have won five straight road games vs. the Oilers, outscoring them 25-14... They have not lost on the road in Edmonton since Dec. 18, 2017... San Jose is 4-2-1 in their last seven games...
Timo Meier has a team-high 60 points through 58 games this season (27G, 33A), scoring six points (3G, 3A) in his last six games... Logan Couture has 36 points in 37 career games vs. the Oilers (21G, 15A)... Brent Burns has played in 660 consecutive regular-season games -- the 11th-longest streak in NHL history and third-longest active streak...
A 5-3 defeat to Dallas last game snapped the Oilers win streak of 21 wins in a row when scoring first... It was the second-longest streak in NHL history (22 wins, 1944-45 Canadiens)... The Oilers are 5-1-1 in their last seven games, outscoring opponents 32-21 while averaging 4.57 goals per game... McDavid has 14 points during his current seven-game point streak (6G, 8A)... Leon Draisaitl has scored 19.6 per cent of all Oilers goals this season (42-of-214), the fourth-highest percent in the NHL...
Injury Report
OILERS - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (upper body) is day-to-day.
SHARKS - Matt Nieto (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Adin Hill (lower body) is day-to-day; Mario Ferraro (fractured fibula) is on IR; Kevin Labanc (dislocated shoulder) is on IR; Nikolai Knyzhov (torn core muscle) is on IR.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com