TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues showed their resilience in the early days of the season on Wednesday night in Seattle. After burying three goals in the first 13 minutes of action, the Blues went scoreless for the next 49 minutes of regulation and overtime. Justin Faulk - scoring his second goal of the night - eventually netted the game winner after holding strong and demonstrating the team's perserverance.
"Good teams find a way to win," said Brayden Schenn. "You're gonna need guys every night, and guys stepped up - Faulk with the big goal in overtime got us our two points."
The Blues have scored four goals in each of their two games played thus far, keeping a strong offensive pace with standout play by Jordan Binnington holding firm in net. The 29-year-old goaltender has made 55 saves on 60 shots faced so far, playing 60 minutes on Opening Night and just over 62 minutes in Seattle.
"It's (about) just enjoying the moment, trying to find a way and staying focused throughout the game," said Binnington. "We're definitely happy with the win tonight, but we have to keep building."
Playing the second of a three-game road trip, the Blues head to Edmonton for an afternoon matchup with the Oilers. With them, they'll bring a 2-0-0 record, worth four points and fourth place - with the fewest games played - in the Central Division.
OILERS The biggest move the Edmonton Oilers made this offseason was in goal, signing former Toronto Maple Leaf Jack Campbell to a five-year, $25 million deal. Last season, Campbell was selected to the NHL All-Star Game and finished with a 31-9-6 record, .914 save percentage, 2.64 goals-against average and five shutouts.
Campbell hopes to be the net presence that Edmonton needs to vault stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl over the top after the club was swept by Colorado in the Western Conference Final last season.
Draisaitl and McDavid, among the best duos in the NHL, are continuing their electric pace of play with eight and 10 points, respectively, in four games. With three goals in their opening night against Vancouver, McDavid became the third player in NHL history to record a hat trick in multiple season-opening games.
Head Coach Jay Woodcroft, brought in mid-season last year and finishing with a 26-9-3 record, hopes that this is the year that the Oilers' top-end talent can break through and reach the Stanley Cup Final.
They are off to a 2-2-0 start, worth four points and fourth place in the Pacific Division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues went 1-1-1 last season against the Oilers with an even goal differential over the three games. The Blues are 7-3-2 in their last 12 games against the Oilers, and are 3-2-1 in their last six trips to Edmonton.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Vladimir Tarasenko, who is on a red-hot start to his 11th season with the Blues. His two goals and three assists both share the team lead, and his five total points lead the club outright.
OILERS Connor McDavid, who finished as runner-up last season for the Hart Trophy, given to the NHL's Most Valuable Player. The 25-year-old forward scored a career-high 123 points last year, leading the League and collecting the Art Ross Trophy for the fourth time in his career.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues have scored nine goals in their two games this season, with seven different players scoring so far... They return eight different skaters who scored at least 20 goals, with nine total 20-goal scorers leading the NHL and ranking second in team history... The Blues are one of four teams in the NHL this season who have killed off all of their penalties thus far, joining San Jose, Detroit and the New York Islanders. Blues Assistant Coach Craig MacTavish is responsible for the penalty kill and will be coaching his first game at Rogers Place. MacTavish won three Stanley Cups with the Oilers as a player and also served as the team's head coach from 2000-09.
After hitting their offensive stride against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Edmonton Oilers hope to keep rolling when they face the St. Louis Blues Saturday to continue their season-opening six-game homestand.
The Oilers rebounded from back-to-back losses to Calgary and Buffalo to skate past the Hurricanes 6-4 on Thursday.
"Being 2-2 is nothing to write home about, but we'll take it," said Connor McDavid, who leads the Oilers with 10 points (five goals, five assists) in four games. "We don't want it to be as scrambly as it has been, but that is hockey in October. There are mistakes made, but you have to find ways to get wins. They count just the same now as they do later in the year."
Looking for more offense, Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft moved Ryan Nugent-Hopkins from third-line center to left wing on the line with Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman. The trio produced eight points against the Hurricanes.
"I think good teams need to rise to the challenge when they're playing other good teams," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We knew what to expect. We knew they were a good team and they play hard. They don't give up a whole lot. We had that mentality going in, keeping it simple and just trying to outwork them every shift.
"I'm pretty proud of the group to bounce back after a couple of tough games. There was no panic in here. We just have to keep going now."
Edmonton goaltender Jack Campbell faced 40 shots in the wide-open game and made 36 saves. Campbell, who went to Edmonton as a free agent following two-plus seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, is 2-1-0 with a 5.08 goals-against average with his new team.
The Blues opened their season with victories over Columbus at home and Seattle on the road. Goaltender Jordan Binnington won both games while posting a 2.46 GAA and a .917 save percentage.
Binnington struggled while producing poor ratios (3.13 GAA, .901 save percentage) last season. Then he suffered a knee injury that cut short his much-improved postseason performance (1.72 GAA, .949 save percentage).
The Blues lost goaltender Ville Husso to free agency, so they are counting on Binnington to regain his previous form.
"He was really good, made some really good saves," coach Craig Berube said of Binnington. "He's been solid for us right through training camp to now. What happens in the preseason doesn't always carry over to the regular season -- that's true in basically every professional team sport."
Binnington has carried the confidence built during the preseason into the games that count.
"I feel calm," Binnington said. "It doesn't stop. You can't think about that for a second. You have to keep working and keep your head down and keep building. It's early. We've got to keep coming together as a team. We can be better."
Blues forwards Logan Brown (upper body) and Pavel Buchnevich (lower body) are questionable for this game.
Buchnevich's injury forced Berube to move third-line center Brayden Schenn up to left wing with Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko on the top line. Those three forwards have scored 12 points combined in the first two games.
Josh Leivo made his Blues debut in Seattle on the third line with Ivan Barbashev and Jake Neighbours.
