Devils at Oilers
Taylor Hall admitted he was caught off guard in the summer when the Edmonton Oilers abruptly traded the former top overall pick to the New Jersey Devils for top-pair defenseman Adam Larsson. Hall will return to Alberta's capital city on Thursday for the first time to face the team with which he spent his first six NHL seasons as the Devils open a four-game road trip versus the Oilers.
"I think I'll get a good applause. ... That's the kind of fans and people that are here in Edmonton," said the 25-year-old Hall (team high-tying 25 points), who is New Jersey's lone All-Star representative after leading the Oilers in scoring in three of the past four seasons. Larsson (plus-1 rating, 20:13 average ice time) has done quite nicely for himself as well as the Oilers had posted a 6-1-2 mark before dropping back-to-back 5-3 decisions, with the most recent loss coming against San Jose on Tuesday to open a six-game homestand. Workhorse goaltender Cam Talbot yielded all five tallies in that contest but stopped 62 of 67 shots to win two of three career meetings with New Jersey.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New Jersey), Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (16-18-8): Coach John Hynes is hoping for a better performance out of his club entering a four-game road trip, especially after what he saw following New Jersey's third straight loss in Monday's 3-0 setback to Florida. "This road trip is about getting our game back," Hynes said on Wednesday. "... So we have to get some things in order in our game and we have to a better job than we did in the last couple of games to be able to find a way to win games and get points." Rookie Miles Wood scored his team's lone goal in a 2-1 overtime loss to Edmonton on Saturday and has recorded three of his seven points this season over the last five games.
ABOUT THE OILERS (21-15-7): Captain Connor McDavid, who leads the NHL in both assists (34) and points (48), set up a goal in both of his career encounters versus New Jersey. While Talbot is expected to get the nod on Thursday, Edmonton recalled Laurent Brossoit (9-8-3, 2.67 goals-against average) from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League and assigned fellow goaltender Jonas Gustavsson to the Condors. The Oilers weren't done there as they also promoted Jujhar Khaira (eight goals, 10 assists, 24 games) from Bakersfield and sent fellow forward Anton Lander to the AHL.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey G Cory Schneider turned aside 41 shots in the first encounter to fall to 7-3-1 in his career with a 1.60 goals-against average versus Edmonton.
2. Oilers C Mark Letestu scored a power-play goal in overtime and also had an assist in the first meeting, accounting for his only points in the last eight games.
3. New Jersey rugged LW Luke Gazdic is expected to be a healthy scratch against his former team.