The Edmonton Oilers are making some lineup changes ahead of tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins, and one regular player will be sitting in the press box.
Players pooled out onto the ice this morning for a full morning skate at Rogers Place. During the skate, head coach Kris Knoblauch ran some new-look lines in the bottom six. The big new addition to the lineup appears to be Viktor Arvidsson, who has missed the last 15 games with an undisclosed injury.
The Swede was skating on the third line alongside Adam Henrique and Connor Brown.
“I’m happy to be back, it’s been a grind,” Arvidsson told media. “Back in action, so it’s gonna be fun.”
OilersTV‘s Tony Brar was able to report the full lineup at practice this morning.
Oilers lines & pairings at Morning Skate:
RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Kapanen
Arvidsson – Henrique – Brown
Skinner – Janmark – Perry
RyanEkholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – EmbersonSkinner#Oilers
— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) December 19, 2024
Derek Ryan, who has been a fixture on the team’s fourth line for most of the season, was notably not involved with a regular line at the morning skate. The veteran instead acted as the extra forward as Mattias Janmark took on the role of the Oilers’ 4th-line centreman between Jeff Skinner and Corey Perry.
Zach Hyman was back skating on the Oilers’ top line with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins after missing Tuesday’s practice with an appointment to deal with the effects of getting a puck to the face. McDavid, who collided with defenceman Darnell Nurse in practice earlier this week, also looked no worse for wear.
“I’ve broken my nose a bunch; this one was a little bit worse than previous ones, probably,” Hyman said. “I don’t know what hit me. My nose moved probably where it shouldn’t have been, so we reset it.”
Interestingly, Leon Draisaitl will remain with both Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen, and even Arvidsson will be ready to roll once again. Those three have developed some chemistry throughout the last few weeks, and Knoblauch is going to keep that trio together for at least one more game.
There were no new moves on the backend, and Stuart Skinner will get the nod between the pipes for the Oilers. Skinner has a lifetime record of 2-2-1 over five starts against the Bruins, recording a .898 SV% over that time.
Puck drop is set for 7 pm MT.