Edmonton Oilers v San Jose Sharks Live

Without any doubts, the Oilers’ front-office is not overly excited with the way things have turned out so far. After three months of play, Edmonton finds itself at the bottom of the league, having won just 15 out of 39 so far. Unfortunately, the Oilers have another tough challenge ahead of them when they face Dany Heatley and the San Jose Sharks on Sunday at 3 a.m. GMT.

The Sharks on the other hand have very little to worry about as they lead the Western Conference with an impressive 24-8-7 record. Unsurprisingly, San Jose’s dynamic offense is even more dangerous with All-Star Dany Heatley on board who scored 23 goals and 44 points in 39 appearances. In fact, the Sharks are the best offensive team in the West at 3.4 goals per contest. But most importantly, coach Todd McLellan’s squad was able to perform on the defensive end after struggling a bit at the beginning of December. However, San Jose’s defense around All-Star Rob Blake subsequently pulled their act together and rallied to five straight wins, allowing just nine goals in the aforementioned five games.

Where as the Sharks’ camp is speculating whether Joe Thornton and company will be able to sustain their high level of play in the post-season, the Oilers have more fundamental issues to deal with. Being the worst team in the Western Conference, Edmonton is fighting an up-hill battle to make it back to the playoff race. While the team from Alberta had no trouble finding the net, they were unable to bring any kind of consistent defensive effort night in and night out. Allowing 130 goals in just 39 games, the Oilers will have to improve by leaps and bounds if they want to avoid another year in the draft lottery. Considering the way both teams have performed thus far, it looks like the Sharks will enter their encounter with the Oilers as undisputed favorites to clinch a win at HP Pavilion. After all, it is highly unlikely that Edmonton’s horrendous defensive will be able to contain San Jose’s explosive offensive around All-Stars Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley.

You can watch all games of the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.