PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Islanders

The Edmonton Oilers continue their five-game road trip on Tuesday night at UBS Arena against the New York Islanders.

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PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Islanders

EAST MEADOW, NY – Leaving where we left off on Long Island.

When the puck drops at UBS Arena on Thursday night against the New York Islanders, the Edmonton Oilers will start with the same lines they finished with in Tuesday’s shutout win over the New York Rangers, which began their current five-game trip on a positive note.

Forward David Tomasek will hold down his top-line role next to Connor McDavid and Andrew Mangiapane, along with the Czech forward serving in the net-front role on the first power play unit that didn’t receive any opportunities in Edmonton’s 2-0 shutout of the Rangers on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Tomasek is hoping to use his size and skill to build on what their line was able to generate in the third period on Tuesday and during Wednesday’s practice at Northwell Health Ice Center, where he, McDavid and Mangiapane worked on their chemistry over a full skate.

The 29-year-old, who led the Swedish Hockey League in scoring last season with 57 points (23 goals) in 47 games for Farjestad BK, wants to continue using his speed and 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame to win battles for his linemates while rediscovering the scoring touch that helped him succeed in Europe last year.

Tomasek has registered one assist in his first three NHL games so far and is looking more confident with every opportunity to touch the ice.

“I thought there were some really good plays there, and I'm probably looking to play a little bit more of a game that I played back home in Europe,” he said. “Obviously, [McDavid’s] an amazing player, so try to help him in any way I can or ask him what he wants, but also play my game with the puck. We had some good looks last night. I think today in practice, we looked good. So hopefully, we can build on that and have a good game tomorrow.”

Tomasek is a bigger body and a right-handed shot who’s been elevated to Edmonton’s top power-play unit to play the net-front role – an assignment that Head Coach Kris Knoblauch believes he can succeed in based on what he’s seen in these first few games of his hockey IQ and versatile skillset that can help him keep up with some of the game’s best players in McDavid and Draisaitl.

“One, just being a smart player,” Knoblauch said. “It is new for him. We wanted a right-handed shot for that power play, just with the options, and felt that he was the best player for that. In the past, he scored a lot in Europe with his shot. He's a guy that can score perimeter with a hard, heavy one-timing shots, and we didn't necessarily need him for that, but I think as the power play progresses, we can move him around a little bit and maybe have that threat.”

McDavid mentioned that he's liked playing with Tomasek so far because of his size, his ability to win puck battles and his readiness to shoot at any point, while all of those help make him an excellent addition to their top-unit power play.

"I think he's just a great scorer," McDavid said. "He understands where to be. He understands how to put himself in a good spot and makes great plays. You saw that in the first game with the great pass to Leo, so he's a very smart player. Obviously, he's played a lot of pro hockey, can play at this level, and he's just a great player."

On Tuesday, goaltender Stuart Skinner was the star performer for the Oilers by making all 30 saves to pick up his eighth career shutout, which included nine on the penalty kill that went 3-for-3 to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard for the third straight time on home ice.

McDavid and Draisaitl have been more involved in penalty killing this season, and the Oilers captain attributes their overall success to their commitment to a new system that they'll continue to adjust to as the games keep arriving, having allowed one PPG on nine opportunities over three games so far.

"A little bit of a new look just with moving away from our old system and into a new system," McDavid said. "There's been a little bit of a feeling-out process, but I feel like it's gone really well. Everybody's paying attention and trying to learn it as fast as we can. It's only going to get better with time as we understand it better. It's been off to a good start."

With no power plays against the Rangers, Edmonton’s scoring was limited to Trent Frederic firing it five-hole on goalie Igor Shesterkin during the second period, notching his first-ever regular-season goal for the Oilers after his only tally in Blue & Orange last season came during the playoffs.

Adam Henrique finished things off with an empty-netter to secure the Oilers their second straight victory after beating the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 one week ago at Rogers Place.

The Oilers have allowed a league-low four goals in three games to begin the regular season, exemplifying the team’s solid defence, with the outlier coming in their third-period collapse against the Flames on opening night when they coughed up a three-goal lead before losing 4-3 in the shootout to their rivals.

"Everybody's bought in," McDavid said. "We wanted to have a good start, and so far so good. Guys are bought in, checking hard, and we're getting some good goaltending. (Skinner) played great last night. He played really, really well."

Offensively, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch liked what his players were able to generate in the first two games, but Tuesday’s win over the Rangers admittedly wasn’t their best when it came to finding scoring chances, as Skinner was able to steal the show on Broadway.

The Oilers ran into a hot goaltender in Shesterkin for the third straight game in New York on Tuesday and have scored a combined six goals on 102 shots (.941 save percentage), with two of their eight goals this season having been empty-netters.

Despite that, there’s a belief amongst the Oilers’ players and coaching staff that the offence is going to start coming in troves as they continue to find their footing at this early stage of the season, while line combinations & pairings work to sort themselves out.

“The first two games, I think we generated quite a bit, especially in the second game against Vancouver,” Knoblauch said. “I think our expected goals for that game were 6.5, which is very high. It's only been three games, and we've seen some pretty good goaltending, but there's always room for improvement.

“I don't think we did enough against New York the other night. I don't think our chances were what they should have been, and you know a lot of credit to the Rangers the way they played. They haven't given up many goals this year, but I thought a lot of it was our puck play and not being able to break things out.”

“I've liked what we've created offensively, and I believe that it's just a matter of time before we score more than we have.”