The Edmonton Oilers are coming off an exciting OT victory in Game 2 to tie their series with the Vancouver Canucks, but they will need to make some lineup changes.
At this morning’s skate, head coach Kris Knoblauch announced that the team has ruled out forward Adam Henrique for tonight’s Game 3 and Connor Brown will be taking his place. This comes after he missed Game 1 with an undisclosed lower-body injury and played in Game 2 where he didn’t show much effectiveness in his 11:38 of ice time.
Henrique played on Edmonton’s third line in Game 2 alongside Ryan McLeod and Corey Perry. This will be Brown’s second playoff game with the Oilers.
Connor Brown is in for Adam Henrique tonight.#LetsGoOilers
— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) May 12, 2024
Leon Draisaitl was not on the ice with the rest of the Oilers this morning, but Knoblauch confirmed that it was a maintenance day for the German and he is expected to suit up tonight.
Knoblauch opted to reunite Draisaitl with McDavid on the top line in Game 2 which had great results. The Oilers coach mentioned that the line could stay together tonight, but there is also a possibility that Draisaitl centres the second line.
Speaking of lines, it is not exactly certain what kind of forward group the Oilers will run without Henrique tonight. The team decided to skip out on forward line rushes this morning and it seems like it will be something Edmonton keeps close to their chest until warmups.
For reference, this is the formation that the Oilers ran with in Game 1 without Henrique.
With Henrique seemingly out for Game 1, expect these #Oilers lines to start tomorrow:
Janmark-McDavid-Hyman
Kane-Draisaitl-RNH
Holloway-McLeod-Perry
Foegele-Ryan-BrownCarrick also has a chance to replace Ryan at 4C.
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) May 7, 2024
It’s unlikely that Mattias Janmark will get top-line minutes once again.
Defensive pairs will remain the same for Edmonton and Stuart Skinner will get his eighth consecutive start between the pipes for the Oilers. Skinner is looking to rebound after two shaky starts in the series.
Oilers fans should be a bit more happy with the start time for tonight as Game 3 is set to go at Rogers Place at 7:30 pm MT.