Edmonton Oilers News

Lazar missed Saturday’s game in San Jose with an illness, but will be back in for Colin Greening tonight in Minnesota. Lazar has just one goal in his last 10 games.

Lazar was not on the ice for the Senators morning skate and will be held out of tonight’s game because he is “under the weather.” He will be replaced by Matt Puempel in the lineup.

Ekholm has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, but will be back in tonight vs. the Devils. Ekholm is expected to be paired with Victor Bartley. Ekholm has five goals, eight assists (13 points) and a plus-10 rating in 53 games this season.

Murphy missed Tuesday’s game in St. Louis, but will be back in tonight vs. the Sharks. Murphy has no points in his last eight games and has just six points (3G / 3A) in 49 games this season.

Ekholm missed Tuesday’s game vs. Tampa Bay, but his presence for the morning skate suggests that he might return tonight vs. the Jets. Monitor his status after the morning skate.

Ekholm suffered and upper-body injury in the Predators win over the Panthers on Sunday. His absence from the morning skate suggests that Ekholm will not be in the lineup tonight vs. the Lightning. With Ekholm out, Anthony Bitetto will be in the lineup.

In the second period, Ekholm was injured went into the boards hard and was forced to leave the game. With Ryan Ellis already out, the Predators can’t afford to lose Ekholm too. Expect an update on his status on Monday.

Pickard allowed four goals on 32 shots in a loss to the Blackhawks on December 27th before being sent back to Lake Erie. He is back with the Avalanche 17 days later and will get the nod vs. Carolina tonight. Pickard has gone 6-6-2 with a 2.21 GAA and .934 SV% this season—he stopped all 17 shots he faced after replacing Semyon Varlamov in his first appearance vs. the Hurricanes.

Pickard has the second highest SV% (.934) in the NHL. He has switched organizational positions with Reto Berra, who is heading to the AHL on a ‘conditioning stint.’ Pickard will start Tuesday in Carolina.

Lazar will play in his first game since returning from the World Juniors. It will be his first NHL games since December 17th. He has one goal and six assists in 27 games this season.

Lazar, who was on a loan with Team Canada, dominated the World Juniors, posting five goals and four assists (9 points) in seven games en route to a Gold Medal. He returns to the Sens where he has one goal and six assists in 27 games.

Draisaitl, 19, opened the season as the Oilers’ second line centre. The experiment did not really go as planned. He registered nine points (2G / 7A) in 37 games and now heads back to the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL. It is best for Draisaitl’s development, especially in a tough year for Edmonton.

Draisaitl did not practice on Monday and his status for Tuesday’s game vs. the Kings is up in the air. Monitor his status during the Oilers’ morning skate on Tuesday.

Despite Pickard going 3-3-2 with a 2.21 GAA and .936 SV% during this recall, with Semyon Varlamov back from a groin injury, Pickard will unfortunately head back to the minors.

Pickard allowed one goal on 35 shots in the Avalanche’s shootout win over the Red Wings last Sunday. He has won three of his last six starts while posting a 1.61 GAA and .955 SV%. He continues to force the Avs to keep him with the big-club and a few more strong performances could land him a permanent spot.

Pickard stopped 28 of 29 shots in the Avs’ 5-1 win over the Sabres last night. Head coach Patrick Roy made the decision at the start of the week to start Pickard in all three games this week—after two games, it looks like it was a great plan. He has stopped 75 of 77 shots (.974) and gone 1-0-1. Tonight he faces a Red Wings team who have averaged just 1.00 goals per game on a six-game losing skid.

Pickard stoop 47 of 48 shots in the Avs’ 1-0 OT loss to the Penguins on Thursday. Once again, Pickard was sensational, but did not walk away with the W. Since being recalled this time around, he is 1-1-2 with a 1.94 GAA and .949 SV%. Tonight he should make for a great start in Buffalo—he has posted a .941 SV% in four road games.

Lazar, 19, has recorded one goal and six assists in 27 games with the Senators this season. Lazar represented Team Canada last year as well—he recorded three goals and four assists in seven games in the tournament.

Pickard allowed three goals on 42 shots in the Avs’ 3-2 OT loss to the Blues on Saturday. With four days off between games, Pickard will start tonight and he will also start both games of the back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday. He makes for an excellent waiver wire addition because he is the clear number-1 net minder with Semyon Varlamov out.

Pickard gave up three goals on 33 shots in the Avs’ shootout win over Winnipeg on Thursday. The 22-year-old net minder continues to impress everyone with his strong play. He now sits at 4-5-0 with a 2.36 GAA and .926 SV% this season. Despite the recent success, he draws a really tough matchup tonight with the Blues in town.