The Edmonton Oilers will go after their fourth straight win on home ice Friday night when they host the Minnesota Wild.
The Oilers are 5-2-1 since Ken Hitchcock took over as head coach. Most of those games have been decided in the third period or overtime.
Related
Wild get 3 goals on power play to drop Edmonton Oilers 4-3
Edmonton Oilers come up dry in Dallas
“We’re staying committed to our game plan, doing the little things. We’ve had some big efforts from some guys,” said defenceman Kris Russell. “Our goaltenders have played really well.”
Cam Talbot will get the call between the pipes against the Wild. It’ll be the first time he gets back-to-back starts under Hitchcock.
“We opted to reward Talbs, and Mikko [Koskinen] will play against Calgary [on Sunday],” said Hitchcock. “It’s also based on rewards. When a guy plays that well, you want to give him a second opportunity.”
Talbot made 28 saves against St. Louis on Wednesday, then stopped two of three Blues in the shootout.
Valentin Zykov will make his Oilers debut. He was claimed off waivers from Carolina last week.
The Oilers expected lineup is:
Draisaitl – McDavid – Chiasson
Khaira – Nugent-Hopkins – Puljujarvi
Zykov – Spooner – Rattie
Lucic – Brodziak – Kassian
Klefbom – Larsson
Nurse – Rusell
Gravel – Benning
Talbot
Catch the Oilers and Wild on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 5:30 p.m. The game starts at 7 p.m.
Source: Read Full Article