Oilers reveal lines and defence pairs for Game 3 in LA tonight

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Despite dropping Game 2 by a 5-4 final to even up their series with the LA Kings at one apiece, the Edmonton Oilers aren’t panicking.

Some thought that head coach Kris Knoblauch might tinker with his lines for Game 3 after Wednesday’s loss, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Based on combinations at today’s morning skate, Derek Ryan, Connor Brown, Sam Gagner, and Troy Stecher will all remain healthy scratches.

There will be no changes to the line combinations themselves, either, unless something changes between now and puck drop.

Offence hasn’t been a problem for the Oilers so far in this series, as they have found the back of the net 11 times. In the last game, however, a slow start, which saw them allow three goals in the first, wound up hurting them.

“We got behind in the first period, which made it really difficult to come from behind against one of the best defensive teams in the NHL this regular season,” Knoblauch said. “The first period is going to be really important, especially coming into this building. We’ve seen it twice this year — how strong they’ve started. It’s imperative that we get off to a good start.”

Leon Draisaitl, who had two assists on the night but had a plus/minus of -1, admitted that more is needed from himself and his line in Game 3.

“Our line got dinged up a bit. Obviously we have to be much better,” Draisaitl said. “Tonight’s a good chance to get back to defending the right way and doing it right.”

Being in a tight series versus the Kings is nothing new to the Oilers. These two are facing each other in the first round for the third straight year. The Oilers advanced in seven games two years ago and pulled it off in six last time around. They’ll hope to put themselves back in the driver’s seat tonight at Crypto.com Arena, with puck drop set for 8:30 pm MT.

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