202303142_SocialGameGraphics_2568x1444_GameDay-Recovered-Recovered-Recovered-Recovered-Recovered

The Edmonton Oilers return home from a four-game road trip to take on the Ottawa Senators at Rogers Place on Tuesday night.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet West or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin at 6:30 p.m. MT, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

GettyImages-1467731826

INSIDE THE OILERS

News and notes from Oilers practice at Downtown Community Arena, including the latest Gene's Blog.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG

PRE-GAME REPORT

EDMONTON, AB - On Tuesday morning, Connor McDavid was back in his familiar surroundings of the Oilers dressing room to preview tonight's clash with the Ottawa Senators at Rogers Place after taking to the stage at the JUNO Awards.
"It was definitely different, but really fun and cool to do something new," McDavid said of the experience.
The captain helped welcome Nickelback into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame on Monday night, breaking from his regular role as the world's best hockey player to present the Alberta rock band with their induction before reverting back to his regular routine in front of the Edmonton media at this morning's pre-game skate.
"It's fun talking hockey, but it was fun talking about something else."
"I'm definitely a lot more comfortable talking to you guys about the forecheck and the power play and stuff like that, but it was nice to be out of my comfort zone a little bit. That was fun."
The Oilers didn't enjoy a six-minute stretch of the second period in Saturday night's loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where the Blue & Orange gave up four goals to turn a 3-1 advantage into a 4-3 deficit in an eventual 7-4 defeat.
"We're in a position halfway through the game where we've got control of the game, and we put a few pucks on their stick and they've got the skill to make you pay. So it's a good lesson about momentum in the game and finding a way to try to stop the bleeding, which obviously we didn't do that night."
Managing momentum, specifically in tough stretches like Saturday in Toronto, was the big focus for the Oilers at Monday's full practice at the Downtown Community Arena.
"Obviously we tried to capture that eight-minute span in the second period there for what it was, which is a learning opportunity for our group," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We spent a good part of yesterday just talking about momentum in other teams' buildings when things aren't going your way, and what you can do to stop it.
"Certainly in that game, we felt we were the authors of a lot of the misfortune in that second period. There are areas of our game where we can clean it up a little bit and certainly taking care of the puck with some of our younger players is an area for us."
The Oilers finished a 17-game, 34-day stretch on Saturday in Toronto and will look to iron out their mistakes over the final 15 regular-season games that will come over the next 31 days, including seven of those against teams who are in direct competition with the Oilers for playoff positioning in the Western Conference.

PRE-RAW | Connor McDavid 03.14.23

"For us, it's certainly not lost on our coaching staff that we're human beings here too," Woodcroft said. "We've played a lot of games in a tight time frame. Sometimes when you are deep into that type of schedule, you see some fatigue and errors. In the end, we're all professionals. We want to capture the learning moments when they're there. There are moments we can better. And for us, down this last portion, if we're to get to where we want to get to, we're going to have to manage those moments better than we did in Toronto."
The Ottawa Senators are a bubble team in the Eastern Conference and will be playing desperate hockey in their quest for points, having dropped back-to-back games to Calgary and Vancouver to fall six points behind the New York Islanders for the final Wild Card spot in the East.
"I think especially in the first, we played pretty good before we [gave up a] shorthanded goal," Senators forward Tim Stützle said of Ottawa's last 5-1 loss to the Flames, "I felt like the same thing in Vancouver. We played pretty good at the start, had a couple of greater looks, and then we kind of couldn't capitalize on them. Then, we kind of got back to cheating and doing all that stuff and I think that's getting away from our game plan. That's what we want to do.
"If you want to win those games, we got to play hard defensively and try to not get as many goals against and shoot a couple more goals in there."
The Dynamic Duo has put up big numbers in 21 games against the Senators over their careers, with McDavid posting 10 goals and 37 points while Draisaitl has netted 13 goals and 31 points.
"You see over the last years here, those two are definitely the best two players in the league," Stützle added. "It's always a challenge playing against any team in the league. I think everybody can beat anyone, but playing against those two guys, it's going to be hard and we got to play check them hard and play good defence."

GERMAN GROWTH

Stützle and the Senators have had their fair share of meetings with the Oilers over recent seasons.
Having to travel to Edmonton to face the Oilers is always a challenge for Ottawa. But for Stützle, a young 21-year-old German forward, getting to face his countryman in Draisaitl doesn't get old.
"He played on the same junior team I used to play with [Jungadler Mannheim], so guys were already talking about that when he was there and when I came in," Stützle said. "So now, it's definitely great seeing his path and he's been just such a fun player to watch every time I come home. Because of the time change, I'm able to watch almost all our games, so it's awesome fun watching him."
Stützle came up through the German hockey system in the early Draisaitl era when the Oilers assistant captain was beginning to make waves by shattering records in the country before he moved overseas to join the WHL's Prince Albert Raiders.

RAW | Leon Draisaitl 03.13.23

"He broke records for German hockey and for everything there, and I think he's a pretty big deal there," Stützle said. "But in Germany it's more about soccer, so we don't really like that But no, he definitely gets recognized and definitely a big piece of the hockey there in Germany."
At Monday's practice, Draisaitl said he doesn't know if Stützle sees him as a mentor type, but will happily bare that responsibility if he does as an international teammate of the 21-year-old.
"I don't know, you probably have to ask that him. I don't know how he views me or how he sees me. If I am that role for him then obviously I'll gladly take that," Draisaitl said. "And whatever he needs, he knows that I'm always there for him, always ready to help, but he's doing pretty good so I don't think he needs me."
Stützle has been having a terrific third NHL season, posting 32 goals and 71 points in 62 games.
Draisaitl added: "I think it shows kids that even coming from a country from Germany, you can play at the top of the world and you can be really successful in any age group in any league if you put your mind to it and you put the right work in it and you trust yourself. I think obviously we've both kind of shown that way and if we can get more kids to get excited about that part or that path, then that'd be great."

COMIN' UP NUGE

Death, taxes, and Nugent-Hopkins going low blocker.
You can guarantee the Nuuuuuuuuge! will give 100 percent every game he's in an Oilers uniform.
"Yeah, he's just playing really well and Nuge brings it every single year," McDavid said of Nugent-Hopkins' consistent presence for Edmonton over 12 NHL seasons. "Sometimes it doesn't always go in for him, but his game doesn't change. He's not pushing for offence. He's still that solid defensive guy that we've all come to know this season.
"He's making a lot of really nice plays scoring goals for us. He's kind of doing it all. He's been really good."
Nugent-Hopkins added two assists to his points tally in Toronto to reach 80 points, steadily increasing his career-high with every contribution at 29 years old.
A 2021-22 Stanley Cup Playoffs return for the Burnaby, BC product of six goals and 14 points in 16 post-season games has seemingly ignited his production this season with a career-best 30 goals and 50 assists.

PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 03.14.23

"I'm quite proud that at this age he's having a career year," Woodcroft said. "I would say that one of the biggest factors in the step that he's taken is that he got to experience what it's like in Edmonton during a long playoff run. Getting to the third round, I really believe it wet his appetite and he's willing to put the work in and do whatever it takes to help move the needle here for our group."
There's a noticeable onus on Nugent-Hopkins this year to take more shooting chances from inside the circles and around the slot, while also putting in the necessary work to open opportunities for teammates.
"Yeah, I think it's important to know where his goals are being scored from, so if you just took a map of the offensive zone and plotted where his goals are being scored from, I think you'd see a lot of them inside the dots," Woodcroft said. "I think he's going into hard areas to find offensive success, and I think sometimes it comes from doing work for other people and letting those people take their shot on the net.
On the power play, Nugent-Hopkins has become indispensable with his ability to connect on passes to the potent offensive weapons that Edmonton's unit presents.
"Sure-handed," Woodcroft agreed of the assessment of Nugent=Hopkins by a media member. "I think one of the areas of growth I've really seen in Ryan over the years has been his entry into the zone, the decisions he makes with the puck and his confidence in that situation. I think when people think of our power play, they go to some big-name people first, but like you said, he touches a lot of our power play.
"He's a great facilitator, and like you said, I like that term. I'm going to steal it."
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS vs. SENATORS
STREAM: 7:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet West
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers are back at Rogers Place following a difficult four-game road trip where they went 2-2, including Saturday's 7-4 defeat to the Maple Leafs.
Toronto opened the scoring courtesy of deadline acquisition Noel Acciari's 12th goal of the season, but the Oilers rattled off the next three to take a 3-1 lead midway through the contest.
Mattias Ekholm scored his first goal as a member of the Oilers just 3:27 into the first period to tie the game at 1-1, while Evander Kane would give the Oilers the lead on a wrap around attempt before the end of the opening frame.
Ontario product Connor McDavid doubled the Oilers advantage with his league leading 55th goal of the season, zipping a five hole shot by Matt Murray 2:23 into the second period.
The Maple Leafs would storm back, scoring four times before the end of the period, with goals by Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and a pair by John Tavares to take a 4-3 lead into the final 20 minutes.

RAW | Zach Hyman 03.13.23

Prolific snipers Auston Matthews and Leon Draisatil traded goals in the third period, before Acciari notched a late empty netter for the home side to wrap up the 7-4 loss.
"This is the third time I think in five weeks or so that we've come to the East Coast and gone back. We've played some good games, and then we've played some forgettable ones," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said about the road trip ending loss. "To me, I thought this one was a game that we could have done better with, but we made too many mistakes. When you make mistakes against teams that can hurt, you're made to pay, and tonight we were made to pay and they found a way to get the two points. We're looking forward to going home."
Senators Team Scope
The Ottawa Senators will head up the QEII after a 5-1 defeat to the Flames in Calgary on Sunday night.
The loss dropped the Senators record to 33-29-4, six-points out of an Eastern Conference Wildcard spot, and was their second consecutive defeat to a Canadian club on their road trip after losing to Vancouver by a 5-2 score on Saturday.
Tim Stützle continued his sensational season, scoring Ottawa's lone goal against Calgary for his 32nd of the year. The young German forward currently leads the Senators in both goals (32) and points (71) heading into Tuesday night's clash in Edmonton.

RAW | Darnell Nurse 03.13.23

Calgary was led by goals from Rasmus Andersson, Elias Lindholm, Jonathan Huberdeau, Noah Hanifin, and Trevor Lewis -- while goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 of 31 shots in the win. It was 22-year-old Kevin Mandolese who made his third career start for Ottawa in the place of a pair of injured ex-Oiler goaltenders Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg. The former sixth-round pick in 2018 stopped 34 of 39 Flames shots, and was handed his second career loss on the night.
"There are parts of the game we need to clean up," Austin Watson said after the defeat. "That being said, you do have to address it and have a short memory because this time of year the next one matters as much as any of the rest. It's tough. It's back-to-back games of outcomes that you don't want."
By The Numbers
The Oilers have gone 7-1-4 in their last 12 home games, which is tied for the best mark in the NHL since Jan. 5... Connor McDavid is two points away from setting a new high mark for points in a season during the salary cap era, trailing Nikita Kucherov's record of 128 by one... McDavid is just the 12th player to record back-to-back 120 point seasons, and the first since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 and 1996-97... McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are both likely to reach 300 goals for their NHL career's this season, with Connor six goals away and Leon just four markers away... McDavid has not failed to record at least a single point in any of his games at Rogers Place in 2023, getting on the scoresheet in all 13 games (10G, 16A)....
Heading into Tuesday's contest against the Oilers, the Ottawa Senators sixth ranked power-play has gone a season-high six straight games without recording a goal... The Senators special teams unit still has 53 PPGs on the year, the third-best total in the NHL... On the other side of the ledger, Ottawa's penalty kill is operating at 87.1 per cent since Dec. 8, the second-best mark in the league since then... The Senators are significantly worse on the road this season, with a .606 winning percentage at Canadian Tire Centre vs. a .455 winning percentage away from the Nation's Capital...

RAW | Leon Draisaitl 03.13.23

Ottawa has allowed four-or-more goals in all four games of their Western Conference road trip, going 1-3-0 heading into Rogers Place... The Senators are 11-17-2 when playing Western Conference teams this season... Ottawa has the NHL's lowest point percentage against the west since the 2017-18 season, with a 64-82-13 record and a .406 points percentage... Tim Stutzle has seen his goal total improve by 10 in each of the last two seasons, going from 12 in 2020-21 to 32 in 2022-23... He leads the next closest member of his draft class by 65 points (158 to Lucas Raymond's 93)... Claude Giroux is on pace to score 35 goals this season, which would be the most of his 15-year career... The former 22nd-overall pick is just 11 points shy of 1000 in his NHL career...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR;
Ryan Murray 
(undisclosed) is on IR.
SENATORS - Cam Talbot (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Josh Norris (shoulder) is on IR; Anton Forsberg (lower body) is on IR; Mathieu Joseph (undisclosed) is day-to-day.
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com