PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Hurricanes

The Edmonton Oilers begin a two-game homestand on Tuesday night with a visit to Rogers Place from the Carolina Hurricanes.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 7:00 pm MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880CHED.

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Tickets for tonight's matchup are available at EdmontonOilers.com/tickets.

PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Hurricanes

EDMONTON, AB – When the Carolina Hurricanes swing through Oil Country on their annual trip up north on Tuesday night, the Edmonton Oilers will be looking to weather the storm early and find ways to generate more offence to help steer their own ship back to calmer waters.

The Oilers return to Rogers Place to host the Hurricanes in the first game of a two-game homestand this week after splitting the results during their recent road trip with a 4-2 win over Nashville and a 4-1 defeat to Dallas to leave their overall record at 2-4-0 this season.

Carolina is halfway through its season-high six-game road trip, sitting 2-2-0 on the season and coming off a 4-3 loss to St. Louis on Saturday, where they scored twice in the third period but were unable to steal a comeback victory.

Defenceman Shane Gostisbehere scored in his third consecutive game and is one of four Canes alongside Sebastian Aho (1G, 3A), Seth Jarvis (1G, 2A), and Andrei Svechnikov (1G, 3A) who will carry a three-game point streak into Tuesday's match.

The Hurricanes are 7-2-1 against the Oilers since the start of 2019 but have dropped all four points on their last two trips to Edmonton by a combined margin of 12-5 after going 4-0-0 in their previous four visits.

On Saturday, the Blue & Orange had a 21-10 shot disparity in the opening two periods against the Stars but couldn’t crack Jake Oettinger at either even strength or on the power play over the full 60 minutes. They needed a late Leon Draisaitl goal at six-on-five with the net empty to break the shutout, but the Blue & Orange have now scored only 12 goals in their first six games of the season.

“Definitely not what we were expecting,” Evan Bouchard said. “There's a lot of room for us to grow. Playing the full 60 minutes is obviously a big part of it. In the last game, we were happy with the first little bit, and then things took a turn. But we‘ve got to learn to minimize those mistakes and let one be the only one.”

Edmonton’s special teams have been one of the main culprits of their early struggles, with the power play at 6.7 percent (1-for-15) and the penalty kill sitting last in the NHL at 55.0 percent (11-for-20). Against Dallas, the man advantage had two failed opportunities to give their side a lead, while the Stars converted their first and only power play of the day late in the second period before building themselves a three-goal cushion with two more in the final frame.

While the PP isn’t the source of all their frustrations, those who carry the responsibility – the main contributors being Bouchard, Nugent-Hopkins, Hyman, Draisaitl and McDavid – recognize their importance in generating momentum for the team.

“You want your power play to be a momentum gain or not a killer,” Bouchard said. “I wouldn't say that's the case at all because I think the five guys on the power play, there isn’t a lack of confidence, but I think it's one of those where you’ve got to gain momentum for the rest of the group. So I think that's going to be big for us going forward.”

The Oilers have conceded the opening goal in all but one of their six games so far, which ended in a loss back on Oct. 13 in the Battle of Alberta when Jeff Skinner scored his first in a Blue & Orange uniform only 1:14 into the first period.

It was one of only two first-period goals for Edmonton this season, but it hasn't been for lack of chances, as evidenced by their 11-2 lead in shots after the first period during Saturday's loss to Dallas.

"Especially in the Dallas game, we had a lot of chances, and I think [Hyman] and I had some chances too that we haven't scored," Viktor Arvidsson said. "And I think it's going to come and I think we're going to be fine."

Despite a league-leading +135 shot differential, the Blue & Orange have yet to find their scoring touch in front of goal – particularly through top-six forwards Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson, who both are without a point this season through six games. But even like on Saturday against the Stars, they believe there's a breakout coming – bot as a team and individuals – if they can bear down on their chances.

That begins with getting off to a good start on Tuesday against another team in the Hurricanes that's struggled in the first period, scoring only three goals and holding a 0-2-0 record in games this campaign where they've held the lead at the first intermission.

"I think we have a lot of firepower and haven't scored the amount of goals we've wanted to early in games," Arvidsson said. "I think we haven't had the first goal in a few games and that's kind of trickled down later in the game, so I feel like that was the case in Dallas.

"If we break through at the beginning there in the first 30 minutes, I think we have a better game."