Penguins/Oilers Preview

After being off since Saturday night when the Penguins defeated the St. Louis Blues to finish their 4-game road trip, the Boys of Winter return to the ice tonight to face-off at home against the Edmonton Oilers (7:30 PM EST).

The Penguins should have LW Pascual Dupuis back for the game; there is no word yet as to whether LW Ruslan Fedotenko, who missed the game against the Blues after suffering an undisclosed injury in the game-day skate, will be back in the lineup this evening. The Penguins did return Wilkes-Barre Scranton call-ups Chris Minard and Janne Pesonen back to the Baby Penguins after the game Saturday night, which gives me some optimism about Fedotenko's status.

The Oilers are led by RW Alex Hemsky, who is at the top of the Oilers' scoring list with 12 points in 12 games. Hemsky had been quiet in the goal scoring department most of this year with only 1 tally until recently when he popped 2 in last Sunday. Defenseman Sheldon Souray also has been playing very well for Edmonton this season so far. Needless to say, the Penguins have to watch out for his shot from the point. He has a laser.

The Oilers also played (and lost) last night in Columbus, 5-4, so tonight's game will continue a recent trend of the Penguins facing teams on the back end of back-to-back games. Time will tell how much of an advantage that is this evening, if any, since teams traditionally take a while to get going during the first home game after a long road trip.

The Penguins have to look to go on the man-advantage tonight because the Oilers penalty killing leaves a lot to be desired. They are 29th overall on the PK unit this season. If the Penguins can generate enough power play opportunities. they can hurt Edmonton on the scoreboard.

I would expect Marc-Andre Fleury to be in goal for the Penguins, while it looks like Mathieu Garon will go for Edmonton. Garon's GAA is 3.18 and his save percentage is under .900, so if the Penguins get pucks on him early and often, good things can happen.

I'll try to post a recap tomorrow.