There is no rest for the young Oilers as they continue to their eastern road swing with a stop in Washington to face the Capitals.
24 hours ago, the Oilers did their best to keep their heads above water, after being out-played and out-classed against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Alexander Ovechkin and his crew are riding a hot 5 game win streak and are chomping at the bit to play the lowly Edmonton Oilers tonight at the Verizon Center. The Cap's have a respectable 37-20-10 record and are tops in the Southeast Division with 84 points. Oilers Head Coach, Tom Renney opted for rest and a team meeting versus the morning skate, though he emphasized for his club to be ready at the gate against yet another cup contender.
"They've got a reputation that you have to respect, naturally, but not to the point where we stand around and watch," said Renney.
"We're 67 games in which means we've probably had 60 video meetings and oodles of practices. We've done all kinds of things to prepare ourselves to play our game. Having said that, it's a brand new venue for a lot of guys, the first time they've seen the Flyers (and Capitals) who are certainly some of the best teams in the league, of course."
"We're 67 games in which means we've probably had 60 video meetings and oodles of practices. We've done all kinds of things to prepare ourselves to play our game. Having said that, it's a brand new venue for a lot of guys, the first time they've seen the Flyers (and Capitals) who are certainly some of the best teams in the league, of course."
"We have our strengths as well, of course." he continued. "We have nothing to lose. The bottom line is we didn't just go out and go after them. And we had a power play fairly early and did nothing with that."
Gilbert Brule will be a healthy scratch for tonight. In for Brule is Alex Giroux who will play his 3rd consecutive game and against his former club.
"I'd like to see Alex Giroux one more game so I'm going to hold Bru out," said Renney. "There's the dynamic of the CBA and how we can move people back and forth. In fairness to Bru, he's ready to go but in fairness to me I want to see Alex play again, against his old team."
There is no word yet as to who Renney will suit up but Nikolai Khabibulin will be getting the start after sitting out since Feb 22nd with an odd eye injury.
"It never happened to me before," Khabibulin said of his injury . "It was kind of weird but everything is back to 100% and I don't see any problems right now."
Oilers,Caps 4pm Pacific time on TSN
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