PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Sharks

The Edmonton Oilers will close out the regular season with back-to-back games at Rogers Place beginning Thursday against the San Jose Sharks.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet One or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Read the Preview then check back later in the afternoon for the Pre-Game Report.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs SJS 04.28.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. SJS
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Nugent-Hopkins
PRE-GAME RAW | Ryan
RECENT VIDEOS
OILERS TODAY | Post-Game at PIT
HIGHLIGHTS | EDM 5, PIT 1
POST-RAW | Woodcroft 04.26.22
POST-RAW | Hyman 04.26.22
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Sharks Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Oilers feature in NHLPA Player Poll
GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Penguins 1
OIL KINGS: Luypen leads in Game 3 victory
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Thursday's game on Sportsnet One at 7:00 PM MT.
News and notes from the Oilers organization, including a look at McDavid & Draisaitl being named among the NHL's best in the most-recent NHLPA Player Poll.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
EDMONTON, AB - With home ice advantaged secured and a first-round playoff matchup against the Los Angeles Kings set in stone, the message for tonight's match-up against the San Jose Sharks is clear: keep your foot on the gas.
"We want to keep pushing and improving our game individually and as a team, and even ramp up the intensity a bit," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said about the back-to-back home games. "You know either Monday or Tuesday you will have to be 100 per cent in, you have to be full-bore by then."
Edmonton is currently a perfect 3-0 against the Sharks this season, with their most recent match-up a 2-1 overtime win in San Jose. Goaltender Mike Smith was voted the first star of the game, turning aside 31 of 32 shots for the victory, however the Oilers are expected to be backstopped by his counterpart Mikko Koskinen tonight, who is looking to get back to his winning ways.
In addition, Jesse Puljajarvi will make his return to the line-up after sitting out the last three games with an illness. He's slated to slot back in on the top line with Connor McDavid and the red hot Evander Kane, bumping Kailer Yamamoto down to the duo of Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman.
"I like the versatility of being able to use either one in that position," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said on the decision. "I think for Jesse, he's obviously a big body and someone who goes to hard areas and opens up space for his linemates. Both (Kailer and Jesse) have been good defensively and I think just having the flexibility to move them around the lineup makes them dangerous players and it's a good luxury for a coaching staff to have."
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 04.28.22
LESSONS LEARNED
The Oilers have found success of late from applying experience and turning it into habit. The ups and downs of the season has taught the team that they cannot overlook the next two games as the allure of the playoffs looms brightly in the background.
"We went through a lot of adversity in December. For that 16-game stretch, I think we learned a lot about ourselves," Nugent-Hopkins said. "You can't consistently have off-nights. We went through a stretch where we were doing that and couldn't get back to our game back quick enough."
Proof was in the pudding on this week's road trip. After the 5-2 defeat in Columbus, a previous iteration of this Oilers team could have carried the sour momentum through into Pittsburgh. But this is a different squad than the one from all the way back in December.
"I think after that Columbus game it would have been easy to have another one of those performances, but the way we bounced back and played a completely different game, closer to what we are capable of doing and that is a great sign for us," Nugent-Hopkins added.
Veteran forward Derek Ryan is drawing off the experience of failure from earlier in his career. The 35-year-old was a member of the Western Conference winning Calgary Flames team in 2018-19 that got steamrolled out of the first round by a flourishing Colorado Avalanche squad.
"I don't think rest is what I'd prefer. We kind of went that route my first year in Calgary when we won the west, we put it in cruise control the last few weeks of the season and we all know what happened there," Ryan said. "I don't think you want to go in like that for the playoffs. It's not a light switch, you don't want to turn it off for a few games and have to turn it back on."
Video: PRE-RAW | Derek Ryan 04.28.22
Since the appointment of Head Coach Jay Woodcroft, the Oilers have not had more than two regulation losses in a row. The players attribute turning failures into success to the communication and structure implemented by the first time NHL head coach.
"We trust our structure in all those situations that when we struggle -- and you're going to struggle in certain aspects of your game throughout a season -- you have to find a way to get back to your structure and trust it," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I think that's the biggest thing is a trust factor, in our abilities, but also in structure."
FUELED BY FANS
The fever pitch around Edmonton for the return of playoff hockey is beginning to come to a boil. The ovation that serenaded the team off the ice in their in 6-3 win last Friday is only the beginning of what the Oilers faithful will bring in the coming weeks.
The atmosphere in the building was incredible. We're excited to have (the fans) back," Nugent-Hopkins said reminsicing on the Oilers 2016-17 playoff run. "The last two years have been weird that way. I'm definitely excited to have that buzz back in building but also around the arena. Going to the grocery store, just that buzz around the city you're already starting to feel it. We want to give the fans something to be happy and energetic about."
"Everyone is just excited for the energy in the building," Derek Ryan added. "You can feel it the last few home games, the energy is building in the city and the buzz is building as well."
The fans have helped make Rogers Place a nightmare place to play for opposing teams as of late. In their last 13 home games, the Oilers are 12-0-1 with the only blemish on their record a 2-1 shootout loss to the Western Conference leading Colorado Avalanche in a game where the Blue & Orange racked up 50 shots.
"It's something we've worked for all year. We've done a good job in the past month or so in establishing this building as hard to come in and play against us," Nugent-Hopkins said. "You always want to start at home and get that energy from our fans and our building, the way we've been playing at Rogers Place is a good sign, but we have to keep pushing."
Video: PRE-RAW | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 04.28.22
"I believe every team starts out with the goal of making their home ice difficult to play on," Coach Jay Woodcroft added. "We just put a real emphasis on playing the game the right way not trying to put on a show; not trying to do anything out of character, just putting an emphasis on speed and simplicity in our own building and feeding off the energy of our crowds."
S-UP BROBERG
The newest addition to the Oilers line-up tonight will be Edmonton's 2019 first-round pick Philip Broberg, who was called up from the Bakersfield Condors earlier this morning. The 20-year-old will get the opportunity to get some minutes in a key time of the year as the Oilers wait for Darnell Nurse to recover from a lower-body injury suffered against Colorado last Friday."
"Broberg's in our lineup tonight and we're taking care of today's business," Woodcroft said. "He's in our lineup tonight and we'll see what happens after the game and tomorrow."
The Swedish rearguard currently leads the Oilers American Hockey League affiliate in points per game from the back end with four goals and 19 assists in 31 appearances.
Broberg's defensive counterpart Darnell Nurse missed both games on the Oilers two-game road trip, but is listed as day-to-day. For Jay Woodcroft and the Oilers, the focus is on San Jose while the team's leader in average ice-time is on the shelf.
"We're worried about tonight's game," Woodcroft reiterated. "He's out of tonight's game, but it was nice to see him in person today. We'll see where he is tomorrow, but tonight he's out."
View the Oilers Projected Lineup vs. San Jose
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS vs. SHARKS
STREAM: 7:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet One
Oilers Team Scope
The Edmonton Oilers closed out their regular-season road schedule in explosive fashion on Tuesday night, winning 5-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins to clinch home-ice advantage in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I think we have the most passionate and best fanbase in the National Hockey League," Coach Woodcroft said post-game. "So starting on home ice, we're excited about it. It's a credit to our players' hard work because it wasn't easy to secure that."
Connor McDavid was once again at the forefront of it for Edmonton, sniping a beauty over the shoulder of Casey DeSmith for his 44th of the season and adding three assists to eclipse the 120-point plateau with 122 points (44G, 78A). It was the captain's 45th multi-point game of the year, becoming only the second player since 1995-96 (Jaromir Jagr) to achieve the feat.
"I think that's what the best players in the world do -- they rise to the occasion," Woodcroft said. "What he's doing here this season, I don't think it gets appreciated by everybody because there's almost a consensus that it's just 'McDavid being McDavid'. He's at a career-high and he's driving our team playing the right way. He's driven to win."
The Oilers rounded out their goalscoring with tallies from Evan Bouchard, Evander Kane, Zach Hyman and Zack Kassian, who broke a 28-game goalless drought with an empty-netter. Mike Smith made 33 saves for his ninth straight victory -- one behind the franchise record set by Grant Fuhr in 1985-86 -- and nearly added another goal to that tally when he narrowly missed the empty net with a 200-foot shot in the final minutes.
Thursday's game will be the first of a back-to-back at Rogers Place to close out the regular season before the Oilers open Round 1 on home ice against the Los Angeles Kings next week.
Sharks Team Scope
Brent Burns and Scott Reedy scored and Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves, but the Sharks fell 5-2 to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday in their final game at SAP Center this season.
"I was okay with our game, I really was," San Jose Head Coach Bob Boughner said. "I felt like they capitalized on their chances and we didn't. Stolarz played well. I just thought it was one of those games. It would have been nice to win our last home game but we just couldn't find that goal we needed early."
San Jose had won three of their last four coming into the contest and look to avoid being swept in the season series by Edmonton for the first time in franchise history.
The Sharks haven't had many meaningful games coming down the stretch after being eliminated from playoff contention for the third straight season, but they were able to win a big rivalry game over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday that dented their playoff hopes.
Timo Meier tallied the equalizer with 0.9 seconds left before the Sharks won it 5-4 in the shootout to make an uphill climb for Vegas even harder. On Wednesday night, a Dallas Stars shutout win ultimately confirmed Vegas would miss the postseason for the first time in franchise history.
By The Numbers
The Oilers lead the 2021-22 season series 3-0 (outscored Sharks 10-3)... Their three-game win streak is their longest against the Sharks since a four-game streak in 2017... The Sharks are 3-8-4 in their last 15 games... Each of the Sharks' last five road games has been decided by one goal (1-1-3 record during span)... The Sharks went 13-9-1 over their first 23 games of the season before going 19-27-11 over their last 57 games... The Oilers have won five of their last six games, outscoring opponents 26-11... The Oilers are 26-12-1 at home this season, earning at least one point in each of their last 13 home games (12-0-1)...
Timo Meier has a team-high 76 points (35G, 41A) in 75 games this season, setting a new career-high in goals, assists and points... He has scored a goal in three out of the last four road games... Tomas Hertl scored 30 goals this season for the second time in his career (scored career-best 35 goals in 2018-19) and has a career-best six game-winning goals (had 3 GWG over previous two seasons)... Logan Couture is four goals shy of becoming the third player in franchise history with 300... He looks to become the fourth player from the 2007 NHL Draft to score 300 career goals...
McDavid became the fifth player since 2000-01 to record 120+ points in a single season... McDavid has led the NHL in scoring for an NHL-high 120 days this season... He has recorded multiple points in each of his last four games (2G, 10A)... Leon Draisaitl is one game-winning goal shy of passing Mark Messier for sole possession of sixth-most in franchise history...Evander Kane has 10 points (6G, 4A) during a six-game point streak...
Injury Report
OILERS - Jesse Puljujarvi (illness) is day-to-day, Darnell Nurse (lower body) is day-to-day, Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR.
SHARKS - Erik Karlsson (lower body) is day-to-day; Radim Simek (lower body) is day-to-day; John Leondard (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Jonah Gadjovich (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Adin Hill (lower body) is day-to-day; Kevin Labanc (dislocated shoulder) is on IR; Nikolai Knyzhov (torn core muscle) is on IR.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com