 |  |  |
| Edmonton Oilers | 9:30 pm ET / 7:30 pm MT | Colorado Avalanche |
| 21-19-3 | January 16, 2009 | 22-21-1 |
| 45 points | Pepsi Center | 45 Points |
| 10th in West | Denver, CO | 11th in West |
Yesterday, I was apathetic at best about the prospects of the Avalanche - Blues game last night and it turns out that was the way to go (two words: snooze er). But I'm fired up for this one. Games between these two clubs have a tendency to get a little wild, and I think this one may be the same.
Both teams played last night, and both teams were rather soundly beaten (the Oilers lost 5-1 to the Wild in Minnesota). The two teams are tied in the standings, and the winner will pull even with the Wild at 8th (although Minnesota holds the games played tiebreaker). Perhaps most importantly, the winner tonight will hold the tiebreaker against each other in the head-to-head games played, a tiebreaker that could easily come into play later in the Wild, Wild West.
Both teams have similar stats on the season. The Oilers have 119 goals scored vs 130 goals allowed. The Avs are at 118-129 (in one less game). Neither team has much of a powerplay this year, and the Oilers are actually one of the few teams worse than the Avs on the penalty kill.
For the Oilers, Fernando Pisani, Ales Hemskey and Robert Nilsson are out. For the Avs...heck, you know this story already.
Finally, both teams are starting their backups. It's Mathieu Garon vs Andrew Raycroft and yes, I am thinking this one might be another 7-6 thriller. So, there you go. Two evenly-matched, generally mediocre team. May the least bad team win.