PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks

The Edmonton Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks in pre-season action on Wednesday at Rogers Place.

You can watch the game live on Sportsnet One & 360 at 7:00 pm MT, or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin at 6:30 p.m. MT, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

Fans who aren't yet subscribed to Oilers+ can receive their first month free when they sign up on a monthly basis. Click here and use the code PRESEASON23 to activate this promotion.

GAME DAY ESSENTIALS

VIDEO

• PRE-RAW | Connor McDavid
• PRE-RAW | Evander Kane
• PRE-RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft
• AROUND THE RINK | Fore The Kids
• OILERS TODAY | Post-Game at WPG
• HIGHLIGHTS | WPG 5, EDM 0
• POST-RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft
• POST-RAW | Calvin Pickard

WRITTEN

• BLOG: Oilers dressing loaded lineup for pre-season tilt against Canucks
• RELEASE: NHL, adidas unveil Heritage Classic uniforms
• GAME RECAP: Jets 5, Oilers 0
• POST-GAME: Akey in awe of first NHL experience
• POST-GAME: Sutter continues his comeback
• RELEASE: Parkatti named Sr. Director, Data & Analytics
• CAMP: Campbell, Skinner focused on forming strong tandem

PREVIEW - Oilers at Jets

EDMONTON, AB – Continue building your game and soon, you’ll break through.

The Oilers were handed a 5-0 defeat on the road by the Winnipeg Jets in pre-season action on Monday, but there were plenty of positives for Head Coach Jay Woodcroft in what he saw from his group – most notably on the shot-suppression side over the first 40 minutes.

“I looked up while walking off and I think we gave up 15 shots after two periods,” Woodcroft said. “We were competing well, and then I thought we ran out of gas a little bit. In that third period, we started to turn the puck over and they made us pay for some mistakes. We were in the box three times that period, and it just took more and more juice out of us."

The Jets, making their home pre-season debut in the second of back-to-back games against the Oilers, dressed plenty of regulars for the crowd at Canada Life Centre in names like Kyle Connor – who was a 47-goal scorer in two seasons ago – and Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk.

Edmonton was led in NHL experience by defencemen Cody Ceci and Brett Kulak in the lineup, but their relatively inexperienced side was made to pay in the final period when mental and physical fatigue led to mistakes, which resulted in turnovers, penalties and plenty of room for Winnipeg to score four goals in the final frame.

Goaltender Calvin Pickard showed poise in the Oilers crease with 20 saves and identified his team’s effort as positive despite the defeat, while professional tryout Adam Erne attributed it as valuable time for the group to adjust to some new strategies and approaches.

Additionally, it's 60 more valuable minutes of footage that will only fuel the fire for improvement in the video room.

“Obviously it's a tough loss, but at the same time, there's a lot of new systems for a lot of guys and trying to sort that out,” Erne said post-game. “But I think the main thing is we battled really hard. It definitely wasn't a lack of effort, so we definitely have some stuff to review on video and some stuff to clean up, but the effort was definitely there."

The experience gained over the course of the pre-season for the club’s prospects like Raphael Lavoie, Xavier Bourgault and Max Wanner is the primary takeaway and the priority for the Oilers coaching and management staffs that'll hope to see their players execute on their potential.

“What we're trying to do is arm them with the tools that they're going to need to be successful,” Woodcroft said. “We have realistic expectations of where certain players are at and what we want to see out of them during preseason hockey, but it's about getting some people some experience and I think some of our younger players got some great experience here going against some of the top players in the National Hockey League.”

Now, the next step for Edmonton’s younger players will be to grow from these moments and return stronger for Wednesday’s return to action against the Vancouver Canucks following an off-day for the players on Tuesday.

“That's all nice and dandy, but you’ve got to learn your lessons from experience. That's how you grow,” Woodcroft said. “But as I said, in terms of the effort and the compete, I thought it was there tonight. Some of our lack of execution showed up as the game wore on, but I couldn't fault the effort or that growth.

LINEUP NOTES

With 55 players (six goalies. 18 defencemen and 31 forwards) still remaining at Oilers Training Camp, the group will be split into playing and non-playing groups for practice on Wednesday prior to a 7:00 pm MT puck drop. 

The Oilers returned defenceman and 2023 second-round pick Beau Akey to the OHL's Barrie Colts on Monday after the blueliner showcased himself well in Sunday's 2-1 overtime defeat to the Jets – including getting the shoulder tap from Coach Woodcroft to jump over the boards in the final minute of overtime.

Camp invite Brady Stonehouse, who was also a part of the club's Development Camp and Rookie Camp rosters this offseason, was returned to the Ottawa 67's on Tuesday after suiting up in Edmonton's 5-0 loss to Winnipeg.

Edmonton's roster for Wednesday's matchup with Vancouver will be made apparent during their morning skate at 10:30 am MT.