The Edmonton Oilers have made a bevy of lineup changes with Zach Hyman out with an injury.
Hyman left Tuesday’s victory over the Ottawa Senators after taking a hit late in the second period. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters after Thursday morning’s practice that Hyman would miss anywhere between four to seven days. He will join Viktor Arvidsson and Darnell Nurse as Oilers players who will not play against the Minnesota Wild tonight.
With that, a number of changes were made to the Oilers lineup to deal with the trio of injuries. In a surprising twist, Kasperi Kapanen will be getting a big chance to begin his Edmonton tenure.
This is what we can expect from the #Oilers lineup tonight vs. the Minnesota Wild with all of Hyman, Arvidsson, and Nurse out:
Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl
J.Skinner-RNH-Kapanen
Janmark-Henrique-Brown
Caggiula-Ryan-PerryEkholm-Bouchard
Kulak-Stecher
Dermott-EmbersonSkinner
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) November 21, 2024
Kapanen, claimed off waivers on Tuesday by the Oilers, will get a golden opportunity to make an impression with his new team. He was skating on the second line alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jeff Skinner. Vasily Podkolzin will play on the top line for the second straight game with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Shifting down to the bottom six, recent call-up Drake Caggiula will return to the lineup beside Derek Ryan and Corey Perry. It appears that Knoblauch will be abandoning the 11/7 formation that the team has run over the last four games.
On the blueline, the only change is shifting Ty Emberson down to the third pairing with Travis Dermott, while Troy Stecher will get moved to the second pairing with Brett Kulak.
Stuart Skinner will get the start between the pipes for the second consecutive game. He has a lifetime 2-1-0 record against the Wild with an impressive .926 save percentage over that span.
Gametime is set for 7 pm MT.