PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Predators

The Edmonton Oilers host the Nashville Predators on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Place hoping to return to winning ways following their 4-3 defeat to the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 1:00 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.

PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Predators

EDMONTON, AB – Hockey is a game of mistakes.

You need your offence to put pucks past your opponents, but if you’re not keeping it out of your own net, it’s going to be tough trying to outscore your opponents every night.

The Edmonton Oilers have a strong grasp on that idea as they work to reduce their own errors that are costing them valuable early-season points heading into Saturday’s afternoon matchup with the Nashville Predators at Rogers Place.

“I think it's many factors that factor into it,” defenceman Mattias Ekholm said. “In the odd game, it's the odd-man rushes that are the problem; in the other odd game, it's mental errors or mistakes or lapses.

"Right now, we're not scoring at the pace where we can mask those mistakes, and it's costing us games."

Despite the Edmonton Oilers peppering the Dallas Stars for 49 shots, the one, two, three mistakes going the other way cost them in a 4-3 defeat on Thursday night that went down as their fourth defeat in five games.

The Blue & Orange poured the pressure on goalie Scott Wedgewood and the Stars’ net over the final 20 minutes, down 4-1 after a few mental lapses and gaps in coverage led to the sizeable deficit in the final period.

The Stars were clinical with their finishing, turning a failed pinch from Cody Ceci at the blueline in the first period and a poor line change and dump-in from Philip Broberg in the middle frame into odd-man rushes that produced goals from Matt Duchene and Joe Pavelski.

Hintz added another on the power play in the middle frame before capitalizing on Evan Bouchard’s loss of position on a rush at 2:37 into the final period to score his second goal of the game that would ultimately go down as the game-winner.

“It seems to me like it's a little bit more individual mistakes than systematic or anything like that,” Draisaitl said. “So I think just individually, we lose our sharpness for a second and it seems like every time that happens, it's in the back of the net.”

Forward Sam Gagner lifted the lid off Rogers Place with back-to-back goals that pulled the home side to within one goal with less than six-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation, but when the buzzer sounded, the Oilers coaches and players could only lament their defensive miscues earlier in the game and how the result could’ve been much different if they’d didn’t commit those errors.

The Oilers dropped their overall record to 2-6-1 through nine games with the loss – 16 points behind the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights and five back of the second Wildcard spot in the Western Conference.

“For us as a group, it's eliminating some of those moments, those large errors, that have led to us not closing out some games where we feel we were the better team,” Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said.

After amassing 49 shots, 99 attempts at goal and three even-strength tallies against Dallas, the Oilers are confident that if they’re able to reduce self-inflicted errors that lead to goals against, their elite offence and special teams can get it done at the other end.

"Obviously, we haven't been scoring the way that we want to, so obviously there's some frustration there," Draisaitl said. "But I think if we continue to put pucks on net like that, more often than not, we'll score enough to win.

Ekholm added: “That's where we’ve got to have a little bit of an understanding that we need to play a little bit tighter and make sure we don't make those mistakes or give up easy goals. We can't give up three-on-ones with one-pass, open-net goals. We’ve got to make teams earn the goals more in some areas.

“I think there are a lot of different variables that go into it, and hopefully by tomorrow, we can make sure we limit those.”

LINEUP NOTES

Raphael is ‘Lav-on-the-way-up’ to Edmonton.

Winger Raphael Lavoie was recalled from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors on Friday and will make his big-league debut on Saturday afternoon against the Predators, becoming the 20^th player in the Condors’ AHL era to earn the promotion and make their NHL debut with the Oilers.

The Chambly, Que. product earned the call-up after being named the AHL Player of the Week this past week with four goals and three assists in Bakersfield’s first five games, helping Edmonton’s AHL affiliate begin the season 4-1-0.

Over parts of four seasons in Bakersfield, Lavoie has produced 47 goals and 41 assists for 88 points in 141 AHL games as a shot-first forward who also has a physical edge to his game to go along with his 6-foot-4, 216-pound frame after recording a Gordie Howe hat-trick in a 5-1 win over the Tucson Roadrunners this past Saturday.

Lavoie is expected to serve as the 11^th forward for Edmonton, who’ll go with 11 forwards and six defencemen on Saturday against Nashville without Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown due to injury.

“Neither one are on long-term IR, so the hope is that they're more day-to-day than longer where they could open up another roster spot,” Woodcroft said.

Janmark has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury he sustained in the Oilers defeat to the New York Rangers on Oct. 26, while Connor Brown left Thursday’s loss in the second period after pulling up from a cross-over off an offensive-zone draw.

Defenceman Philip Broberg was reassigned to the Condors in a corresponding move to make space the necessary cap space for Lavoie’s recall, giving the Oilers another forward option and the young Swede the chance to work on his game through an expanded role in Bakersfield.

“We were carrying twelve forwards on the year. Janmark's been out for the last couple of games, and certainly losing Brown last night and going down to ten forwards, you want to make sure you're in a position to be able to at least dress eleven forwards,” Woodcroft said.

“A big factor in putting Philip down in Bakersfield is that it allows us to call somebody up, and for Philip, it also represents a good opportunity to play some big minutes, get his game and get his confidence going again.”

GAMEDAY ESSENTIALS

VIDEO

• PRACTICE | Gagn & Back Again
• RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft
• RAW | Mattias Ekholm
• RAW | Darnell Nurse
• RAW | Leon Draisaitl

WRITTEN

• RELEASE: Oilers recall Lavoie, loan Broberg to Bakersfield
• GAME RECAP: Stars 4, Oilers 3
• BLOG: Gagner excited & stronger for third stint with Oilers