About the Oilers - 11-06-08

A preview of the Oilers.

Record: 6-5-1

Leading Scorer: Ales Hemsky, 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists).

Last Game: 5-4 loss at Columbus last night.

Last Game against the Penguins: 4-2 home loss Dec. 5, 2007.

Oilers Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Shawn Horcoff (above). He has five goals in five career games against the Penguins. It's hard to argue with that average.

Ex-Penguins: Kelly Buchberger, assistant coach.

Useless Oilers Trivia: Current Penguins forward Miroslav Satan holds the Oilers record for longest point-scoring streak by a rookie. He scored in 11 consecutive games during the 1995-96 season.

Best Oilers YouTube Video We Could Find: Anyone who has read EN for a while knows there's only one video we would ever put in this field. The pregame ceremonies before Game 3 of the 2006 Stanley Cup final between the Hurricanes and Oilers:

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEkQcu-g6II]

-We would marry this video if Pennsylvania's government would recognize unions between man and embedded videos.

NOTES:

-Pascal Dupuis is expected to return tonight.

-The Oilers let a win slip away late last night.

-Check out this goal Hemsky scored last night:

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_SXgqhiphY]

-Our live blog starts at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in.

EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS

Penguins

-Sidney Crosby and Miroslav Satan (right) are finally starting to mesh.

-Crosby stinks.

-The Confluence wonders if Jordan Staal is in the Penguins' future plans.

-Does the loss of Marian Hossa hurt the Penguins more than it helps the Red Wings?

-John Curry made 25 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 3-2 loss at Bridgeport.

-Chris Minard, Janne Pesonen and Jeff Taffe have accounted for 83 percent of the AHL Penguins' goals this season.

-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is having issues on the power play.

-Wheeling Nailers forward Tommy Goebel was named the ECHL's player of the month for October.

Atlantic Division

-Shootout goals by Patrik Elias and Jamie Langenbrunner gave the Devils a 4-3 win against the Lightning.

-The physical play of forward Steve Tambellini has impressed the Islanders.

-Bobby Clarke is trying to help the Flyers with faceoffs.

Northeast Division

-Former Penguins forward Glen Murray (right) claims he was injured when the team bought him out.

-Sabres forward Tim Connolly is dealing with a groin injury.

-Alex Auld has essentially become the Senators' top goaltender.

Southeast Division

-The Lightning assigned defenseman Janne Niskala to a team in Europe.

-Thrashers goaltender Kari Lehtonen is dealing with a back injury.

-Atlanta forward Slava Kozlov has returned to form.

-Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg is doing a little of everything for Carolina.

-The Panthers expect defenseman Bryan McCabe to return to the lineup tonight.

-Brent Johnson has been Washington's best goaltender this season.

-Capitals games aren't the only sporting event in Washington that gets taken over by Yinzers.

-Washington overlord Ted Leonsis didn't take kindly to ESPN's Tony Kornheiser calling out his team's fans on national television.

Central Division

-The fate of the free world may very well depend on the fortunes of the Red Wings' AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

-While the totals are still pretty weak, the Predators have enjoyed an increase in attendance this season.

-Crazy, tragic story of the day: A woman collapsed and died at a Blackhawks game Monday. Her mother also died at a Blackhawks game in 1986.

-Chicago goaltenders Cristobal Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin have found a way to co-exist.

-Columbus goaltender Chris Mason played well in his NHL debut.

Northwest Division

-Avalanche forward Joe Sakic (right) is dealing with a back injury.

-Kyle Wellwood is pretty popular these days in Vancouver.

-Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell is an offensive machine all of a sudden.

-Michel Ouellet must have picture of someone with a barnyard animal. First he spends the better part of the 2006-07 season on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. Now that he's in Vancouver, he's teaming up with the Sedin twins.

-Defenseman Shane O'Brien has been a pleasant surprise for the Canucks.

Pacific Division

-Ryan Getzlaf (right) had two goals and an assist for the Ducks in a 5-2 defeat of the Blues.

-Getzlaf is now tied with Evgeni Malkin for the league lead in points with 18.

-Kings coach Terry Murray wants his top line to produce more.

-Even with his team off to an 11-2-0 start, Sharks coach Todd McLellan wants it to play better.

-The Stars are slipping into a black hole.

(Photos: Horcoff-Jimmy Jeong/Getty Images; Satan and Crosby-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press; Murray-Elise Amendola/Associated Press; Sakic-David Zalubowski/Associated Press; Getzlaf-Mark Avery/Associated Press)