PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Sabres

The Edmonton Oilers close out a four-game homestand against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night when they hold their inaugural South Asian Celebration at Rogers Place.

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. Sabres

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers will wrap up their season series with the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night when they renew pleasantries at Rogers Place in the final game of their four-game homestand.

Less than two weeks ago, the Sabres handed the Oilers a 3-2 shootout defeat at KeyBank Center in Buffalo after Edmonton jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period when Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod each recorded a goal and assist inside the game’s opening 15 minutes.

Tage Thompson scored 1:16 later, showing his lethal release that’s fourth in the NHL (44) behind Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard (97) for the most shot attempts this season over 90 miles per hour (145 km/h) before Jacob Bryson made it 2-2 with less than 10 minutes left in the final frame.

In overtime, defenceman Owen Power looked to have won it on a wrist shot from the left circle with only seconds to spare, but after the teams exited the benches to the dressing rooms, a late review by the officials for offside sent us to the shootout, where Thompson and Alex Tuch notched the winning goals against Stuart Skinner in an eventual 3-2 win for the Sabres.

"It hurt a little more losing twice," Nugent-Hopkins said. "It was a weird situation. It gave us another chance, but obviously we didn't get the extra point."

The defeat was one of Edmonton’s six losses in their last 10 games that’s been decided by one goal, with the Oilers holding a 13-3-4 record in those games after splitting the overtime results in their last two contests against the Avalanche and Canadiens.

"Getting points at any point in the season is very important right now," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Obviously when you're fighting for position, jockeying for position a little bit, it's very important, so we'll take them any way we can get them.

"I still think we'd like to elevate our game for a full 60 minutes to the point where we know it can be. Tonight will be a good test. This team always starts off fast and has a lot of skill to push you back, so we've got to control the pace from the start."

Rasmus Dahlin scored twice for the Sabres in the third period against the Canucks on Thursday, but the Sabres couldn't overcome an early deficit to the Pacific Division leaders, losing 3-2 in the second of back-to-back road games after having previously beaten the Kraken 6-2 on Monday.

The Sabres are looking to stay afloat in the race for the playoffs as they currently trail the Red Wings by five points for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, having been led primarily this season by the youth they’ve assembled on their blueline.

Buffalo’s active roster is the youngest in the NHL (24.6 years), including the youngest defence core that includes Dahlin, Power and the recently-acquired Bowen Byram, who has five points in his first seven games with the Sabres since being traded from Colorado at the trade deadline.

That pales in comparison to Edmonton's average age (30.45), with their active roster having more than double the career goals (2,775) than the Sabres (1,193).

Dahlin’s 17 goals for Buffalo are the second-most in the NHL this season from a defenceman behind Nashville’s Roman Josi, with Evan Bouchard sitting tied for fifth on that list with 15 after he became the second D-man in Oilers history with 15+ goals and 50+ assists in a season with two more helpers in Tuesday night’s 3-2 overtime win over Montreal.

Sam Carrick sparked the Oilers early in that victory with a fight before Adam Henrique scored his first goal with the Blue & Orange in the second period, finishing off a tap-in set up by Mattias Ekholm’s second assist of the game.

Nick Suzuki and Kaiden Guhle fought back for the Canadiens, each recording goals in the first five minutes of the final frame, but a double-minor for high-sticking against Joel Armia in the final minute of regulation awarded Edmonton’s power play the opportunity to end the game on a one-timer from Leon Draisaitl with 1:42 left in overtime.

For Carrick, who’s feeling his importance in the Oilers lineup grow with each game after sparking his team with a fight and a goal over his last two contests, the centre hopes to hit his stride in time for the post-season after the Oilers play their final 16 games of the regular season over the next 29 days.

“I think you're starting to see some more playoff-style hockey,” Carrick said. “The game against Colorado was pretty close to what you're going to see in playoffs – tight-checking, not a lot of chances each way, and when you do get chances, you want to capitalize and you want to bury them.

“I think as the season progresses, games get a lot tighter. Early on, teams kind of are still learning to play with each other and learning new systems, so we're at the time of the year now where teams are pretty dialled in.

“With us being where we are, most teams aren't going to try to bring their best effort against us every night. I think that's good and I think it's going to prepare us for playoffs.”

With 13 forwards and even defencemen at his disposal now, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch plans to use every player down the stretch to maintain their preparation and their place within the Oilers dressing room.

"We talk to them, give them a heads up on what might be happening and where they fit in," he said. "We've got probably four or five that kind of can come in and out of the lineup. But I just think it's important that everyone feels part of this team and that nobody's sitting for two weeks or two months maybe, and then we have an injury and we need them, or somebody's not playing well.

"If somebody's playing exceptionally well, we're not going to take them out. But I think we've got 13 forwards that are playing well and we have to make tough decisions each time."

On the blueline, Vincent Desharnais was once again a full participant at practice on Wednesday despite missing Tuesday's win over Montreal with a minor hand injury. The 27-year-old defenceman's next NHL game will be the 100th of his career, but the decision on whether or not he'll return to the lineup on Thursday and make that milestone appearance has yet to be made.

When you have the time, it's best to take it so you can be healthy for when the playoffs arrive.

"He hasn't taken any time off," Knoblauch said. "He's been out there fully practicing all the time. The first day or two maybe a little bit of limited activity, but we'll make a decision tomorrow if he's playing.

"But if we needed him and it was a playoffs, he'd be ready to go. We're just deciding what's best for our team and certainly, we don't want it to be an injury that aggravates, gets the rehab time and gets stretched out."