Oilers Stand a Good Chance to Win 5 in a Row on Road Trip

The Edmonton Oilers will finish a six game road trip in St. Louis on Friday as they take on a similarly hot team who is also 6-3-1 in their last ten games.

The biggest thing the Oilers have going for them is their momentum leading into Fridays contest and the fact that this game is in St. Louis where the Blues are simply not very good.

The Blues are a bismal 5-9-2 at home while a much more respectable 8-2-3 away. The Oilers on the other hand are 6-8-2 away, which while not great sits that way because Edmonton has won four straight.

The Blues are a relatively healthy team missing only Eric Brewer and the Oilers are banged up with some obvious missing pieces, but with missing ingredients, the Oilers have figured out a way to simplify their play and it's paying off.

Add to that the likely return of Denis Grebeshkov and the Oilers have found some decent motivation to make it a clean sweep.

Where the Oilers will need to capitalize is in the first period. Thanks to St. Louis being the worst team in the NHL on the powerplay, the Oilers can afford to play a more aggressive style game and really open the game strong, taking it to the Blues and getting the lead after 20 minutes. Based on this years numbers, Edmonton is a much better team at taking home a first period lead than St. Louis is.

5 on 5 play will be critical as well as St. Louis is a terrific penalty killing team and the Oilers are still lacking, but are doing much better sitting 12th in the NHL. For Edmonton, it will be about the quantity of powerplays to gain the edge in that department.

Should the Oilers be able to pull off five straight wins, this team is a far cry from the the same group fans were calling to see blown up. There is always the possibility that the Oil are giving fans false hope and that this road record against somewhat pooroer NHL caliber teams is deceiving, especially considering the two shootout victories, but how can a real fan be upset with Edmonton winning in any way they can.