PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Red Wings

The Edmonton Oilers host the Detroit Red Wings in their inaugural Lunar New Year Game at Rogers Place on Tuesday night.

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

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. Red Wings

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers are looking to return to form against Klim Kostin and the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night at Rogers Place after losing two out of three games coming out of the All-Star Break.

Despite Edmonton's record since the break, they remain one of the League's top teams with a 12-2-0 record since Jan. 1, but Detroit is close behind with a 10-2-2 record during that same span as they look to put an end this season to a seven-year playoff drought – the second-longest in the League behind the Buffalo Sabres (12).

The Red Wings are tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for third in the Atlantic Division with 60 points and a 27-18-6 record, which has been raised in large parts from an increase in goals per game this campaign from 2.89 to 3.49 and a whopping 64 goals from new arrivals this year.

Former Oilers forward Klim Kostin is one of those players for Detroit with three goals in 30 games, but Alex DeBrincat's 18 goals this year for the Red Wings is the third-most from all NHL players on new teams. You can add Patrick Kane to that list with seven goals in 20 games, who other than Anze Kopitar has the most points (69) against Edmonton among active NHL players.

The Oilers were one win shy of tying the record for the longest win streak in NHL history before the Vegas Golden Knights handed them their first defeat since Dec. 21, 2023, receiving 30 saves from Adin Hill and putting an end to Edmonton’s 16-game win streak despite their solid effort.

The Blue & Orange responded with mixed results over back-to-back games in Southern California on Friday & Saturday, downing the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 with the help of Evander Kane’s eighth-career hat trick before running into another hot netminder in David Rittich, who stopped all 36 shots in a 4-0 shutout as Edmonton’s offence failed to finish on its opportunities.

The Oilers also couldn’t score on four power plays, while the Kings cashed in once during interim Head Coach Jim Hiller’s debut behind the bench for Los Angeles. Edmonton hadn’t allowed a power-play goal in seven straight games before their resilient penalty kill was beaten in back-to-back games against Anaheim and LA, and an 0-for-4 evening with the man advantage meant their road effectiveness would drop to 18.4 percent – over eight percentage points lower than at home (26.4 percent).

“We’re not thrilled with how it's gone since coming back, although I think we've played three fairly decent games,” captain Connor McDavid said on Monday. “I thought it was a tough back-to-back the other night, but I think we played fairly well in three games and that's a positive. We’re not getting the results, but a chance to get back on the horse tomorrow.”

With the Oilers 1-2-0 since winning 16 games in a row, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said that it’s important to evaluate his team’s recent performances with a level head while cross-referencing those games with their play before the All-Star Break. The Oilers bench boss feels confident in the on-ice product he’s seeing from his team, but he and his coaching staff won't hesitate to make the changes they feel are necessary right now.

“I think the way we were playing right before the break, we were just getting by winning games,” he said. “I don't think we were playing nearly as well as we were the previous weeks, and I think we played fairly well after the break.

“I see numerous analytics from multiple sources on how well we played and if we should’ve won or not, and those can be skewed a little bit. But I also think that they're very important in evaluating how our team's playing.

"We don't want to do anything drastic. I think there are things that we can get better at, and it wasn't just luck that we lost those games. But overall, I think those were above-average games. I thought we played well – certainly better than we had going into the break.”

Along the same line, the Oilers coaching staff and players are sensing some positive regression coming in their collective ability to finish at even strength.

As per Natural Stat Trick, the Oilers have the NHL's highest 5-on-5 Expected Goals (xGF) of 124.47, which is the highest in the League by a large margin ahead of the next-highest team in the Carolina Hurricanes at 116.5.

Edmonton has only scored 102 times at even strength this season, which signals their teams' need to bear down on their chances down the stretch.

"A lot of it is finishing and just being able to put the puck in the net," Knoblauch said. "Throughout the season, our finishing rate has been one of the lowest in the NHL, if not the lowest it was before I got here. It's only a small sample, but in the last three games after the break it has been really low, so there's a little bit of that.

"But also, I think as a group we need to just be going to the net, simplifying our game and being a little quicker in the offensive zone rather than being on the perimeter looking for the nice pass and fancier plays. We can be a little more direct, and there are a few players that can make those fancy plays. Obviously, we've got two of them, but ultimately as a group, we want to be a little quicker and a little more direct."

Offensive-zone possession has played a major part in Edmonton's rise under Knoblauch (27-8-0), and the coach wants to see his team continue to preach this concept after it helped lower their goals against.

"We don't want to give away pucks," Knoblauch said. "I think part of the reason why we've been defending and keeping our goals against down is because we haven't been giving away pucks and the more you possess it, the less you have to defend. I think that's the biggest reason why our defence has been much better, but there's a balance on how much you sacrifice that and you end up sacrificing the offensive side of it.

"We want to score goals. We have to be careful about throwing pucks to the slot blind. We're just feeding their transition. We don't want to be doing that, but we want to speed things up and we need to get pucks and bodies around the net a little bit more than we have."

After Monday's practice, Sam Gagner could emerge as one of those even-strength options for the Oilers after the 34-year-old practiced at right wing on the fourth line with Derek Ryan and Connor Brown.

Gagner, who was with Detroit for parts of three seasons from 2019 to 2022, has five even-strength goals in 22 games this year and hasn't played since Jan. 25 against Chicago – the game before Corey Perry made his Oilers debut.

Edmonton's penalty kill was clicking at the time, so there wasn't much space for the veteran, but Edmonton's need to shore up their play at even strength could give him an avenue back into the lineup.

"We're looking for more offence in our bottom six and we can't rely on our top-two lines scoring all the time," Knoblauch said. "And as good as they are, and they are very good, we need some a little more offence from the bottom guys and Sam has been so good.

"He hasn't quite had a role with Perry here, and the way the penalty kill has been going, it kind of pushed him out of having a role. But that sacrificed our five-on-five play a little bit, and Sam has been a great hockey player for us and now, we'll have him come back and I think he'll add a little bit in that dimension."