Kane’s Return Will Give the Edmonton Oilers more RPMs

Good morning and happy Tuesday, January 17th.

Congrats to our readers who accurately predicted the Washington Capitals would beat the New York Islanders last night in yesterday's poll... and an extra pat on the back if you thought the Caps would win in overtime off the stick of Dmitry Orlov (watch here). 

Evander Kane’s probable return to the Edmonton Oilers’ lineup tonight is like adding turbo boost to a race car.

The Oilers have won three in a row and are 6-3-1 in their last 10. They seem to have found their game of late. But Kane’s return after 10 weeks on the injured list will provide them with more power, the opportunity to create a bigger bang in their cylinders. 

Kane, 31, suffered a scary injury Nov. 8 when Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pat Maroon inadvertently skated over his wrist after Kane had fallen to the ice.

Everyone in the arena, including players on both teams, was mortified when a terrified Kane raced to the bench in search of medical help.

“Scary, certainly scary,” Oilers star Connor McDavid said at the time. “I think you could feel the energy in the entire rink kind of just get sucked out.”

But those ugly memories have been washed away by the excitement of what Kane can mean to an Oilers team that is currently holding the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. Tonight, the Oilers face a Seattle Kraken team that is currently among the NHL’s hottest teams.

The 6-foot-2 Kane is a big, strong, physical force with the skill and creativity to be an offensive force. When he joined the Oilers last season, he made them a different team. He scored 22 goals and registered 39 points in 43 regular-season games. He also amassed 60 penalty minutes.  Kane then scored 15 goals in 17 playoff games.  Before going down this season, Kane posted 13 points in 14 games.

If Kane receives doctor’s clearance to play tonight, he will be returning ahead of schedule, just shy of two and a half months since his injury. The original estimate was that he would be back in three to four months.

😈 The New Jersey Devils beat the Sharks 4-3 in a shootout for 7th straight road win. Jack Hughes scored with just 10 seconds remaining in regulation (watch here) to force overtime. Tomas Tatar scored in the shootout and Vitek Vanecek stopped all three San Jose shooters to seal the Devils come-from-behind victory, their 14th comeback win of the season. The Devils have a chance to sweep their five-game road trip this Thursday at Seattle.

⛈ The Tampa Bay Lightning win their 4th straight while ending Kraken's streak at 8. The Lightning held a narrow 2-1 lead halfway through the third period before Brandon Hagel and Victor Hedman padded the score with empty net goals late in the game while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots for the 4-1 victory. Vasilevskiy collected his 20th win in his seventh consecutive season and is now 4-0-0 against the Kraken in his career.

TRIVIA: The New Jersey Devils 18 road wins leads the NHL this season to date. What team holds the NHL's all-time record for most roads wins in a single season with 31?

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TRIVIA ANSWER:

The 2005-06 Detroit Red Wings hold the NHL's all-time record with 31 road wins in one season.