PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Blues

The Edmonton Oilers can match a franchise record with their ninth straight win on home ice Friday night when they cap off a three-game homestand at Rogers Place against the St. Louis Blues.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet West or listen on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs STL 04.01.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
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OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. STL
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Nugent-Hopkins
PRE-GAME RAW | Smith
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BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Blues Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Thursday's Practice Notes
RELEASE: Oilers sign Bourgault to ELC

VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Friday's game on Sportsnet West at 7:00 PM MT.
News and notes from Oilers practice at Rogers Place on Thursday, including Jay Woodcroft providing lineup notes and thoughts on the coaching staff managing the energy reserves of its players.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
EDMONTON, AB - Home is where the wins have been for the Edmonton Oilers as of late.
The Orange & Blue have the opportunity to match a franchise record of nine-straight wins on home ice Friday night when they wrap up a three-game homestand against the St. Louis Blues.
Over their last eight games at Rogers Place, the Oilers have outscored their opponents 41-19 and embedded themselves right in the middle of the Pacific Division playoff race as they try to feed off the energy of their home fans and continue making it a tough venue for visiting teams to take two points from with seven regular-season home games left.
"I think it's something that you want to take pride in at your home rink," Mike Smith, who starts in goal tonight for the Oilers, said pre-game. "You want to be tough to play against, and I think as of late, we've done a good job taking care of business at home.
"Obviously having fans back in the building creating some energy for us has played a big part in that. You want to make it as hostile of an environment as you can at home and make it hard to play against when teams come into your building."
The incredible home win streak for the Oilers is a product of putting opponents on the back foot from the get-go, competing every shift, and making it hard for teams to establish themselves offensively from a renewed emphasis on tracking back towards their own end to stamp out zone entries.
"I think it's something that we've talked about all year and it's something we've wanted to be better at all year. It's coming together now," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "It's being hard to play against at home and not giving teams anything easy, making every shift count, and making it tough on other teams to create offence in here. We've done a good job of it lately and need to keep it rolling and see what happens the rest of the way down the stretch here."
Video: PRE-RAW | Mike Smith 04.01.22
The Oilers home form will continue to be paramount with every game from here on out until the end of the regular season being vital to claiming a playoff spot while keeping the engines running full steam by the time the postseason arrives.
"You'd love to be 20 points up right now and be comfortable, yes, but I think these are important games for us going down the stretch," Smith said. "Right until the last game, it'll be like playoff hockey. What better way to prepare for the playoffs than to play in 15 games that mean so much going into the playoffs?"
The Blues are a big, hard-checking and hard-working team that lifted the Stanley Cup three seasons ago, and it won't be an easy opponent for the Oilers to break down defensively or prevent from getting both their pucks and players to the net.
St. Louis is locked into a playoff push of their own, sitting one point up on the Nashville Predators for third in the Central Division, and has seemingly had their way with Pacific Division teams this season with a 13-3-1 record.
"They're not that far removed from winning the Stanley Cup," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "A lot of their key pieces were involved in that run, and I think they forecheck well, transition pucks well, and they break out well. We're going to need all 20 people on our team focused and prepared to execute immediately."
THE MISSING THIRD LINE LINK
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Derick Brassard have made up two-of-the-three players on the Oilers third line since Brassard was acquired at the deadline from the Philadelphia Flyers.
"He reads the game really well," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Obviously you don't play this long without being a smart player, but definitely getting to play with him you realize how smart he is out there. He makes a lot of really good smart little plays."
The last spot on that line, however, has been a revolving door.
Jesse Puljujarvi initially filled the role of third-line right winger for the first two games of Brassard's tenure before Josh Archibald occupied the spot for the next two games. Tonight, it will be Zack Kassian, who'll rejoin the lineup in place of Derek Ryan and occupy the right flank of Nugent-Hopkins and Brassard.
When asked about the perfect player to fill that third-line role, Coach Woodcroft said he's still looking. But the depth at the forward positions awards the bench boss plenty of potential options, and he's prepared to find the perfect combination within his ranks.
Video: PRE-RAW | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 04.01.22
"The good part about having the depth that we mentioned is you have different people who bring different ingredients," he said. "Derick has been here for a few games, Nuge is just coming back into the lineup in that same timeframe, and we're trying to find a piece that complements them the best.
"We're expecting Zack Kassian to come into that role today and bring what he brings to the table."
Regular rotation on his right wing has posed some conflicts for developing regular chemistry, but Nugent-Hopkins understands how the depth of the Oilers forwards needs to be used over the final 14 games of the regular-season schedule.
"For chemistry purposes, that obviously goes a long way," Nugent-Hopkins said of having regular linemates. "I think right now we're trying to get everybody into the group and playing. We have a deep group of forwards right now, so guys are kind of going in and out right now. It's a positive thing for our team, so obviously you want to try and build as much chemistry as you can with the guys you're playing with."
A player as tenured as Nugent-Hopkins in an Oilers uniform, fortunately, has a lot of familiarity with most forwards, and he'll continue to build on his partnership with Brassard that's been building over the last four games since the trade deadline.
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 04.01.22
"I think most of the right-wingers that I've been playing with I've played with in the past, so we understand each other's games which helps when you're going in and out of that spot," he said.
"Right now, I'm definitely trying to build the chemistry with Derick and get whoever's over on that right side involved. I think Derick and myself, we want to play the right way and want to be smart. Obviously, we want to help offensively and help produce offensively, but if we take care of the puck and play the right way, it should make things easier on the right-winger too."
LINEUP NOTES
Zack Kassian rejoining the lineup in place for Derek Ryan represents the Oilers only change in skaters based on Friday's morning skate.
The forward will join the third line, while Archibald drops to the fourth unit with Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele.
Smith makes his first start since getting the victory in a 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Mar. 21 and is 7-9-2 in 18 starts this season for the Oilers with a 3.10 goals-against average and .902 save percentage.
View the Oilers Projected Lineup vs. St. Louis
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS vs. BLUES
STREAM: 7:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet West
Oilers Team Scope
The Edmonton Oilers took a valuable extra point from the Los Angeles Kings with a 4-3 shootout victory on Wednesday in an important Pacific Division contest at Rogers Place.
Connor McDavid notched the century for points with a goal and assist that made it five seasons for the captain in his career with 100 points, while Leon Draisaitl inched closer to his second 50-goal season with his 49th of the campaign.
The victory made it eight straight on home ice, and the Oilers have the opportunity on Friday to match a franchise-record nine games in a row set between Mar. 14 and Apr. 9, 2017.
"I think our players feel the juice in the building," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said Thursday. "I think there's a really good atmosphere here. We play in front of the best fans in the world, and I said this over the last few days here that we want to make this building a really tough two points to take out of.
"We want to make sure opponents know that when they come into this building, they have the whole city of Edmonton against them."
Blues Team Scope
The St. Louis Blues earned their second straight win with a 4-3 result over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, putting extra pressure on the Pacific-chasing Canucks while the Blues were able to jump back into third place in the Central Division standings with 83 points and a 37-20-9 record.
It was a well-balanced night of scoring for St. Louis, with Nick Leddy scoring at even strength for his first goal as a Blue since being acquired at the deadline alongside a shorthanded marker from Robert Thomas and Ryan O'Reilly's power-play tally.
The Blues will hope to spoil Edmonton's home winning streak, but they'll be tested in another matchup with playoff implications that is being reciprocated on the side by the Oilers bench boss.
"I think they have nice depth and good balance to their forward groupings," Woodcroft said. "They're heavy, they come on the forecheck, and I think they have the experience of having played deep in the playoffs and they are a champion recently. They're going to provide a big test for us."
By The Numbers
The Blues and Oilers have split the 2021-22 season series 1-1 (both in St. Louis), with the Blues winning the last meeting 4-2 on Dec. 19, 2021... The Oilers are 4-9-0 in their last 13 home games vs. the Blues, getting outscored 47-27... The Oilers (4.70) and Blues (3.90) are averaging the first and third-most goals/game since Mar. 10... The Blues are 9-4-2 in their last 15 road games and are averaging 4.00 goals per game over their last 10 on the road...
Edmonton's 2.12 goals/game vs. St. Louis is their lowest against any team since 2008-09, while St. Louis' +55 goal differential in their last 37 games played vs. Edmonton is their highest goal differential against any club since Dec. 21, 2009... The Blues are 9-for-29 on the power play in their last nine games (31.0 per cent)...
Jordan Kyrou has a team-high 62 points through 61 games this season (22G, 40A)... He has 19 points in his last 17 games (4G, 15A) but has not scored a goal in 10 straight games (0G, 9A)... Vladimir Tarasenko became the fifth player in Blues history to record 500 points with the team on Wednesday vs. Vancouver... Tarasenko has scored a goal in three of his last four meetings vs. the Oilers... David Perron has scored 12 goals in 13 games in the month of March -- the most in a single month of his career... The Oilers have scored at least one power-play goal in an NHL-high 23 home games this season...
Connor McDavid reached an NHL-high 100 points (37G, 63A) in 67 games this season on Wednesday and now has 673 points (232G, 441A) in 474 career NHL games... McDavid has scored in back-to-back games and has 8 goals in his last 11 games as part of an 11-game point streak (8G, 13A)... Leon Draisaitl looks to become the first Oilers player to score a goal in six-plus consecutive games since Jimmy Carson (seven games from Nov. 23-Dec. 4, 1988)...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Kris Russell (COVID-19 Protocol) is day-to-day; Kyle Turris (back) is on IR.
BLUES - Torey Krug (upper body) is day-to-day; Tyler Bozak (lower body) is day-to-day; Scott Perunovich (wrist) is on IR.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com