PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks (Preseason)

The Edmonton Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks in their final home game of the preseason on Sunday night at Rogers Place.

You can stream the game live on Sportsnet at 6:00 PM MT, and listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks (Preseason)

EDMONTON, AB – The kids are putting their stamp on Training Camp.

With five pre-season games in the books and another on tap against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday at Rogers Place, the young players for the Edmonton Oilers who remain on their Camp roster are leading the charge as they compete to crack the NHL full-time with a few more solid performances in their remaining three contests before the regular season.

The Oilers shut out the Winnipeg Jets last time out on Friday with a 4-0 victory that saw centre Noah Philp continue his strong Camp with a goal, giving him three points (1G, 2A) in his last three games, while Josh Samanski contributed a goal and an assist after having a slow start to life in the organization during Rookie Camp and the early part of preseason.

Wingers Matt Savoie and Isaac Howard didn’t record any points, but the two prospects were heavily involved in the win by serving in special teams roles and helping push the pace for the Oilers across 16:11 and 18:05 of ice time, respectively.

Both young skaters played beside veteran linemates in the top six and have acquitted themselves well with the opportunities they've been given, and that carried over into Saturday's practice session at the Downtown Community Arena.

During the skate, Savoie and Howard were taking reps on Edmonton’s second-unit power play, looking dangerous with the puck running through Howard in the right circle and the 21-year-old always looking like a threat to shoot with his wicked release.

"When you got two young guys playing off each other, they're in a need a support role on that power play together, where if you have one young guy playing with four older veterans, maybe they don't feel as comfortable and they feel they have to defer, where those two young guys can kind of feed off each other and play," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "And I liked what I saw from those two shooting the puck a lot, just feeling comfortable, so hopefully they can continue building on that."

Howard said it's been great having Savoie to share the experience with, forming a friendship that he already knows is going to be a fruitful one as they build chemistry and navigate Camp together in a bid to secure opening night roster spots on Oct. 8 against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place.

"Yeah, he's a great player, super fast, super skilled. It's been fun to get to know him now throughout training camp," Howard said. "He's a great guy. I can tell he's going to be a great buddy, so it's just been fun to get to know him as a person. Obviously, as a hockey player, he's super good."

Participating in his first Camp, Howard has grown in confidence with every appearance, but he's focused on keeping his head down while putting in the work necessary in order to soak in every lesson in his first full pro season.

"It's all great players," he said, describing the quality of players in attendance at Oilers Camp. "But even with that, there are challenges, and even if it looked good, like, we're still working through things and trying to build that chemistry and get better. Early on, there's going to be some plays that we want back and things like that, but it's just about gaining each other's trust and building chemistry from there."

Coach Knoblauch believes both Howard and Savoie have done a good job of that, getting long looks at NHL spots, and Howard has been very noticeable to the coaching staff despite having a year less of professional experience than Savoie, who starred for the AHL's Bakersfield Condors last year.

"I think he's been feeling more and more comfortable as this Camp has gone on, and maybe a little bit of a slow start, but that was anticipated," Knoblauch said. "You can compare him and Savy a little bit, but Savy's got a year of professional hockey under his belt and a handful of NHL games. He spent last year in the American League.

"We knew Howard would take a little bit longer to get accustomed to the play, but I think he's been getting better and better every day and starting to feel more comfortable, and you can just see him getting available and shooting the puck, and that's what we want. So, hopefully he continues to build on that because obviously we feel that there's a lot of promise there."