Edmonton Oilers reveal Game 1 lines and one important player might be hurt
The puck drops tonight between the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars for the 2025 Western Conference Final.
Both teams are riding high after emotional second-round victories and have their eyes set on a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. The series will begin in Dallas, meaning that the Oilers will have a chance to steal a game on the road early on in this matchup.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch has liked how his team has looked in recent weeks, with tweaks coming few and far between victories. The sophomore coach ran a full set of forward lines and defensive pairs in Texas for this morning’s skate.
It looks fairly similar to what the Oilers ran in Games 4 and 5 of their series against the Vegas Golden Knights, except with one vital change in the bottom six.
OilersTV’s Tony Brar reported that Connor Brown was not on the ice this morning, with Viktor Arvidsson taking his place on the third line.
EDM – Morning Skate:
RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Kapanen
Kane – Henrique – Arvidsson*
Frederic – Janmark – Perry• Skinner, Ryan, Jones (Brown* not on ice)
Kulak – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Walman – Klingberg• Ekholm, Emberson
Skinner
Rodrigue#Oilers— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) May 21, 2025
Brown took a maintenance day during the last Oilers practice on Sunday, but Knoblauch told reporters that the fan-favourite forward was not expected to miss any time in this series. His absence from today’s full morning skate does put some doubt into that notion.
If Brown misses Game 1, Arvidsson will draw back into the lineup for the first time since Game 3 against Vegas. He skated in Brown’s spot on the third line alongside Adam Henrique and Evander Kane.
Further up the lineup, nothing has changed on the top two lines. Connor McDavid is holding down the top line alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman. Leon Draisaitl is in his usual second-line spot with Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen.
The fourth line has also stayed static with Trent Frederic, Mattias Janmark, and Corey Perry rounding out the forward group. All of Jeff Skinner, Derek Ryan, and Max Jones were skating as extra bodies.
The blueline is also looking familiar. Mattias Ekholm was taking a regular shift in the rotation, indicating that a return could be coming very soon. Knoblauch has previously said that the Swede will miss at least the first two games of the series, but that could change quickly in the playoffs.
Brett Kulak and Evan Bouchard remain Edmonton’s top pair, with Jake Walman and John Klingberg rounding out the top four. Darnell Nurse continues to be on third-pair duty with Troy Stecher. Ty Emberson was the extra man on the ice today alongside Ekholm.
Stuart Skinner is looking to continue his hot streak as he gets the nod tonight. Stu went 4-2 against the Stars in last year’s Western Conference Final and carried a sparkling .922 save percentage in that series.
Puck drop is earlier than usual with a 6 p.m. MDT start time.