Oilers at Canucks
Locked in a fight with the Minnesota Wild for first place in the Northwest Division, the Vancouver Canucks brought in Derek Roy and opted to keep goaltender Roberto Luongo through the trade deadline. The Canucks are hoping Roy can help the offense when they host the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. The Oilers, who are in the fight for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference, did not make any major moves at the deadline.
Luongo has been rumored to be on the move for months with the emergence of Cory Schneider as Vancouver’s top goaltender, but will stick around for another run at the playoffs. Roy will slot into a stacked forward corps for Vancouver, providing depth while Ryan Kesler works his way back from a broken foot. Edmonton opened up a four-game road trip with an 8-2 win at Calgary on Wednesday. The Oilers have won five straight while totaling 25 goals to sneak into eighth place in the West.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, RSNW (Edmonton), RSNP (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE OILERS (16-13-7): Edmonton is trying to reach the postseason for the first time since the 2005-06 season and has pulled one point ahead of the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators in the standings. The Oilers are doing it all with offense and received a five-point performance from Taylor Hall (one goal, four assists) and four from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in Wednesday’s win. Edmonton had little trouble solving Schneider or Luongo on Saturday, when Hall needed only 7:53 to record his third career hat trick as the Oilers went on to a 4-0 victory. The 21-year-old left wing has recorded 14 points during the five-game winning streak while the 19-year-old Nugent-Hopkins has backed him up with 10 points in that span.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (19-11-6): Luongo blamed his gaudy contract, which stretches through 2022, for his staying in Vancouver. “My contract (stinks), that’s the problem,” Luongo told reporters. “I’d scrap it if I could now.” General manager Mike Gillis expressed regret for the situation but said, “the needs of our team also play a role in this. Trying to balance them is a difficult thing. We’ve been doing that for six months.” Luongo came on in relief of Schneider against the Oilers on Saturday and made 20 saves on 22 shots, marking the first time in 12 days that the veteran had found himself in the net. That was the first of back-to-back losses for the Canucks, who also dropped a 3-2 decision at San Jose on Monday. Vancouver had won six in a row prior to that, highlighted by Schneider’s play in goal as the team allowed a total of six goals in that span.
OVERTIME
1. Two of the three meetings between the Northwest rivals have gone to extra time. Edmonton earned a 3-2 shootout win on the road Jan. 20 and Vancouver returned the favor with a 3-2 overtime win at the Oilers on Feb. 4.
2. Edmonton sent a fourth-round draft pick to the Florida Panthers in exchange for veteran D Jerred Smithson.
3. Vancouver LW Mason Raymond (undisclosed injury) sat out Monday. He is questionable for Thursday.