The Edmonton Oilers look to salvage their nine-game road trip when they take on the Nashville Predators on Friday night.
Edmonton has won just once in its first six games on the trip and has earned four out of 12 points. More importantly, the team has lost four straight. With three games remaining, the team can attempt to end the trip at NHL .500 with three wins.
The team is coming off a woeful 3-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings; it was the first time this season that the Oilers were shutout.
"We were pleased with the first period. I thought we had out-chanced them at the start and came into the room even trying to build on that and make that a positive with the 0-0 score and things feeling pretty good," said head coach Ralph Krueger. "(After the 1-0 goal) for 10 minutes they just dominated us in every category. We lost our defensive coverage, we lost battles and in that time period the game was decided. They were able to pull it to 2-0."
"We would have liked to have seen maybe a power play or two in the game but when you look at the whole picture here, there's no excuses for this one," he added. "We cannot stop playing for 10 minutes against the Detroit Red Wings and expect to get points and that's what happened here."
The Nashville Predators are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the team's second straight defeat. The Predators held off Los Angeles in the first and only allowed one goal in the second. However, the team imploded in the third and gifted the Kings with four straight goals.
"These were two different games. This kind of game should have made it easier for me, but I didn't respond," Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne said. "I just have to make sure I'm doing my job. Out of the last three games, I've been pulled twice, so I'm not doing my job and just I have to focus on that. I can't focus on how many goals we're scoring. I have to be able to help this team."
Prediction: Edmonton wins 4-3.
Start Time: 8 PM EST
TV: FS-TN
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