PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Golden Knights

The Edmonton Oilers entertain the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night in an important Pacific Division clash at Rogers Place.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet West at 7:00 PM MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630CHED.

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.

PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Golden Knights

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers believe their game is in a good position heading into an important measuring-stick matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday at Rogers Place.

A second straight victory for the Blue & Orange on Sunday saw them impress with an 8-2 drubbing of the Anaheim Ducks after falling behind 2-1 in the first period before scoring the next seven goals over the remaining 53:50 of regulation.

The Oilers weathered Anaheim’s early push and used a simplistic approach in the victory focused around a steady transition game out of their zone and into the attack, where they boast one of the best rush offences in the League but also the ability to dump the puck in low and make life difficult on defenders with a strong forecheck.

“Probably where we got into most of our trouble is just too many turnovers at the blueline,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “The last 50 minutes, I don't recall that many or if any, so it's a fine line making plays on the attack. Especially the team that we have, it's going to happen.

"We don't want to be a complete dump-and-chase team, but when they've defended it and our options are limited, we want to put that puck behind their defence and put on the forecheck. 

“That's ultimately what you want your team to be is a team to be hard to play against, and I think we're getting more of that into our game.”

Connor McDavid appears to be back to his world-class ways after posting a goal and four assists in the win that stretched his point streak to four games, totalling three goals and nine assists that the captain claims is a part of some increased confidence for the entire group.

“Confidence is obviously a big part of it," McDavid said of his recent resurgence. "I think our whole team is playing better and I think that's why you're seeing guys start to have success. It's not just a light switch that one guy or two guys can just turn on. It takes a whole group and I thought our group's been playing better of late and you're starting to see guys have a little bit of success."

Darnell Nurse had one of those successful performances on Sunday as one of six Oilers to record multi-point nights, with his three assists helping set up goals for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid and Mattias Ekholm – the former on a terrific set play off a defensive-zone faceoff.

The 28-year-old’s game was arguably his best of the season and his assertive play in all areas of the ice appears to be the result of a change for the Oilers blueliners in mindset and approach under the guidance of Assistant Coach Paul Coffey.

Defenceman Vincent Desharnais also contributed two assists for the first multi-point game of his career, and both he and Nurse are critical contributors on the penalty kill that’s operated at 89.2 percent (26-for-29) since Knoblauch’s arrival behind the bench – a large increase from their previous 13 games where they killed off 70 percent of their short-handed opportunities (35-for-50).

“I think Paul's been doing a really good job with the defence back there,” Knoblauch said. “A lot of it is talking and communication with him, trying to get them to be a little more assertive and make plays.

“The plays that Darnell made, especially the one off the faceoff to Nugent-Hopkins, was just an exceptional pass. But he’s such a good skater with a good stick who can close space like very few in the NHL can. That's the biggest thing where we're trying to push him is just being assertive, closing that space, and just creating turnovers. I think he's been doing a good job at doing that.”

The victory improved Edmonton’s record to 7-12-1 – six points out of the final Wildcard spot in the Western Conference with two games in hand on the Seattle Kraken, who have only one more victory than the Oilers but four more overtime defeats.

The Oilers will now be charged with carrying their momentum built over six strong consecutive periods of hockey in Sunday's win and Friday’s 5-0 shutout of the Washington Capitals into a date with the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights, who started the season 11-0-1 as the best team in the NHL through November 4 but are the sixth-worst since then with a 3-5-1 record – including being shut out three times.

While there’ll certainly be some carryover from last season's second-round series between the two clubs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, nothing else for the Blue & Orange matters other than what happens in their own locker room as they try to continue building their game with more than 75 percent of their regular-season schedule left to play.

"We know the point we're at right now and we're just playing hockey,” Nurse said. “I think we move on to the next game and doesn't matter who comes in here. we want to take care of our own game and see where that gets us at the end of the night. So obviously, there's going to be a lot made of it because we played them in the playoffs last year. But the same token for us as a team, we're kind of at the point here where we've just got to be worried about ourselves."

"We know it's going to be a hard-fought game," Nugent-Hopkins added. "It's going to be tight-checking and there's not going to be anything easy out there, so we've got to prepare for that. We take some positives from these last two games and keep going."

GAMEDAY ESSENTIALS

VIDEO

• Catelli Smart Play of the Week
• Access Insurance Goal of the Game
• OILERS TODAY | Post-Game vs. ANA
• ANALYSIS | Post-Game vs. ANA
• RAW | Coach Kris Knoblauch
• RAW | Connor McDavid
• RAW | Brett Kulak
• RAW | Derek Ryan

WRITTEN

• GENE'S BLOG: Family Time
• RELEASE: McDavid named NHL's First Star of the Week
• POST-GAME: McDavid finds mojo with nine points in two games
• GAME RECAP: Oilers 8, Ducks 2
• BRAR'S BOOK: Leaders Lead