The Edmonton Oilers are shaking up their defensive pairings ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s outing versus the San Jose Sharks.
Despite a come-from-behind 3-2 overtime victory against the Boston Bruins last night, it wasn’t entirely smooth sailing for the Oilers. Sensing a change was needed, head coach Kris Knoblauch chose to break up the Mattias Ekholm/Evan Bouchard defensive pairing, instead playing Ekholm alongside Ty Emberson and placing Bouchard with Brett Kulak.
“I think we just needed a change,” Knoblauch said last night. “Tonight wasn’t a pretty change, wasn’t our best game… but we wanted to change some things up. That new partner gives players a different outlook, hopefully, a little energy, and a little more focus to their game.”
New defence pairs at Oilers practice:
Nurse – Bouchard
Ekholm – Emberson
Kulak – Stecher#Oilers pic.twitter.com/gFMPRPQ3GD— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) December 20, 2024
Those pairings have been altered slightly again this morning. Ekholm continued on at practice today alongside Emberson, but instead of Bouchard skating with Kulak, he was paired with Darnell Nurse.
Meanwhile, Troy Stecher, who played last night’s game with Nurse, was dropped back to the third unit alongside Kulak.
The forward combinations remained the same at today’s skate, though Derek Ryan stepped in on the second line to replace Kasperi Kapanen, who was absent from the session.
The other change for the Oilers will be in net, as Calvin Pickard is expected to get the start. His last appearance came just over a week ago, where he kicked aside 29 of 30 shots in a lopsided 7-1 win over the Minnesota Wild.
Pickard has been less busy as of late with Stuart Skinner’s play having improved. He’s been a reliable option when called upon, however, posting a 2.41 goals against average (GAA) along with a .901 save percentage (SV%) and a 7-3-0 record through 11 appearances.
The Oilers are prepping for a back-to-back set this weekend, as they will go up against the red-hot Ottawa Senators on Sunday. Both will be big outings, as the Oilers currently sit two points shy of the LA Kings for second in the Pacific Division and five back of the Vegas Golden Knights.
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