^{Utah looks to extend their record win streak with their first ever win against Edmonton}

Last year, the Utah Hockey Club was winless in all three contest against the Edmonton McDavids, losing twice in Edmonton by a combined score of 11-2, and getting a point but falling in overtime at the Delta Center.

Last year, they didn’t have a Tusky to fuel a 7 game win streak heading into Alberta.

This is the first meeting between the Edmonton Oilers, last year’s Cup runner-up, and a new look, new brand, new Peterka’d Utah Mammoth. The Mammoth come in to Edmonton riding high on a 7 game win streak, beating three consecutive divisional opponents on the road. Tonight marks their fourth, and final, away game before heading back to Salt Lake City for a 4 day break.

Utah’s off to one of the hottest starts in the league, currently sitting atop the Western Division with an 8-2-0 (16 pts.) record. The Mammoth are riding high with awe-inspiring start by Nick Schmaltz and the kid line – JJ Peterka, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther – who have been on a tear so far this year. With potent scoring threats on lines 1 and 2, Utah has a balanced heavy up front offense. This is forcing teams to split their defensive coverage; as the Blues showed the league, focusing on only one line was a deadly mistake. Additionally, Utah’s team defense has been smothering shots and shot attempts. Great placement by all four forward lines, and all three defensive pairs have led to turnovers, disrupted passes, shot blocks, and frustration for the opposition.

Utah is a perfect 8-0-0 when scoring 3 goals so far this year, which likely has something to do with goaltending. As a tandem, Karel Vejmelka and Vitek Vanecek are combining for a .907 save percentage, and 2.29 GAA this year. Utah goaltenders have only let in 2 or more goals in two contests, three against Sharks and four against the Blues. Both games were 3 goal wins for Utah.

Utah’s goaltending and defense face a big hurdle tonight, though, as the Edmonton Oilers boast one of the best offenses in the league over the past 5 years. This is thanks to their superstar and Canada’s literal golden arches boy, Connor McDavid.

Edmonton, like last year, is struggling to start the season. Perennial Cup contender, the Oilers are returning home after a frustrating record (2-4-1, 5 pts.) on the road. Edmonton’s played well at home, though, winning their last two contests – a 6-5 win against the Canadiens, and a 3-1 win against San Jose – after dropping their opener in a shootout.

Surprisingly, Edmonton’s been struggling to score so far this year, save for a 6 goal outburst against Montreal on Thursday. The Oilers have 3 or fewer goals in all other games, including three overtime contests. Connor McDavid has scored only one goal in 10 games, a surprising but hopefully pleasant stat that continues tonight.

Even with a drought, however, Edmonton can wake up (or collapse) at any point. I have a friend that said once “No lead is safe in an Oilers game. If we’re down 4-1, I’m not worried, because I know we’ll score. If we’re up 4-1 I’m worried because I know the other team will, too”.

That second half of his statement comes from habitual shaky defense and tenuous goaltending. Edmonton’s main netminder is Stuart Skinner, who is known to just “controller-disconnect” at random times, and make poor decisions when playing the puck. Behind him, Calvin Pickard is arguably worse. That’s a very loaded statement when you’ve seen Stewart Skinner play over the past few years.

Old Mammoth friend, Connor Ingram is currently in the Edmonton organization, but is in the AHL and not going to face his former team tonight.

Key points to secure a victory tonight:

Keep McDavid Cold Utah should not be the team that 99 wakes up for. 1 goal in 10 games is a bad start, but I’m fine with him going 1 goal in 11 games, if at all possible.

Cold, however, is relative. One goal in 10 games doesn’t account for the nearly dozen assists he’s notched so far. McDavid is a wizard with the puck, and can score in any situation. Worse, he can draw defenders away on the power play, allowing either Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to beat you instead.

Notably, McDavid is -4 for the year so far; with 12 total points to his name, it’s a sign that his unit is not performing well defensively, so containment should lead to good scoring opportunities against.

Make Leon Draisaitl colder. As mentioned above, Draisaitl will kill you if McDavid doesn’t. While McDavid only has one goal on the year, Draisaitl has 7. Drai is especially potent on the power play, where he has more than half his goals (4). Draisaitl is a sniper. If he gets the puck with any space, with any opening, he will shoot. And if he shoots, Vejmelka needs to be locked in.

Edmonton lives and dies by the power play; McDavid and Draisaitl account for almost 30% of all of Edmonton’s points, with12 of those points coming with the advantage. (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the other point producer, has 7 points on the power play as well).

If Drai and McDavid can be contained individually, and especially on any power plays, Edmonton should have difficulty scoring. The only other Oiler with more than 3 goals is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (5G, 6A) who produces most of his points with that potent power play unit.

Exploit Evan Bouchard. Bouchard is one of the league’s best defensemen. The first few games of the season, however, he has struggled defensively and been a key figure in at least two losses I’ve watched. In the Oilers-Islanders game a week ago, Bouchard’s mental lapse on a power play allowed the Islanders a short-handed goal, a lazy play at center ice led to a Mat Barzal steal and breakaway goal, and another terrible giveaway led to odd-man rush chance against. He and Skinner also combined for one of the weirdest goals against on opening night, as miscommunication between the two led to a Flames forward stealing the puck right in front of the net and scoring a game-tying goal in the 3rd period.

Bouchard has picked his game up the past few games, but he’s not too far removed from the terrible games early on. If the Mammoth can catch him napping, they should be able to take advantage of weaknesses in net behind him.

Projected Lineup:

Game time 7:30 PM local.

TUSKS UP!