Oilers Must Focus On Hockey In Tense Rematch

Hockey is an emotional game.

We saw that on Saturday night when Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers ended up with matching three-game suspensions after a late-game scrum in the Oilers' 3-2 loss to Vancouver. Tonight, as the two teams meet again less than a week later, they'll have to ensure they don't let the game become too emotional.

The Oilers come out from these suspensions much worse than the Canucks. Tyler Myers is, charitably, a bit stretched as a top-four defenceman, while Connor McDavid is, well, Connor McDavid.

As we saw in their 3-2 loss to Washington on Tuesday, the Oilers struggle to score without McDavid, especially on the man advantage. Everyone knows that, it's why Conor Garland was tangled up with McDavid in the first place on the play that resulted in his suspension.

Without their captain and best player, the Oilers can't afford to get sucked into a chippy, penalty-heavy game against Vancouver. While the Canucks certainly aren't firing on all cylinders, they're still a solid team, and the Oilers will need all hands on deck to get back into the win column. That means no vigilante justice.

Officials will be on high alert for any extracurricular activities tonight, which will only heighten the need for everyone to be on their best behaviour. Even without McDavid and Myers, tempers could be running high in Edmonton.

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As Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said on Wednesday, there's no need to seek retribution for any dirty plays because nobody on the ice tonight did anything out of line on Saturday night. However you feel about the length of the suspensions, there was no way McDavid or Myers would ever be allowed to play in this game.

As for the Oilers' lineup tonight, the line blender should be out again as Kris Knoblauch searches for the right mix behind Leon Draisaitl's line. Calvin Pickard will start between the pipes for the 16th time this season.

Tonight's game gets underway at 7:00 PM, on Sportsnet.

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