McDavid, Draisaitl starting series against Avalanche on Oilers' top line

May 30 2022, 8:40 pm

The Edmonton Oilers are loading up their top line to face off against the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals.

With Game 1 of their third-round series set for tomorrow night at 6 pm MT, the Oilers are running a trio of Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid/Zach Hyman as their opening unit.

In Game 5 against Calgary, the Oilers used Draisaitl and McDavid on the top unit together, while swapping Evander Kane and Zach Hyman. Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto also flipped spots between the second and third lines.

Per Bob Stauffer, here’s the Oilers’ full forward lines today:

  • Leon Draisaitl- Connor McDavid- Zach Hyman
  • Evander Kane-Ryan Nugent- Hopkins- Kailer Yamamoto
  • Warren Foegele- Ryan McLeod- Jesse Puljujarvi
  • Josh Archibald- Derek Ryan-Zack Kassian

Extras: Devin Shore, Derick Brassard, Dylan Holloway, Kyle Turris, Brad Malone

Here’s how their defencemen line up:

  • Darnell Nurse-Cody Ceci
  • Duncan Keith-Evan Bouchard
  • Brett Kulak-Tyson Barrie
  • Kris Russell-Phillip Broberg

Here’s the goaltending lineup, with Mike Smith the projected Game 1 starter:

  • Mike Smith
  • Mikko Koskinen
  • Stuart Skinner

The Oilers are on a four-game winning streak in the playoffs, having tossed aside the Calgary Flames in five games the last series. It’s the first Conference Finals appearance for the Oilers since 2006 when they advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals against Carolina.

“From day one, we’ve talked about putting our players first,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft told reporters on Monday. “We wanted to be open-minded… and make sure everyone had a clean slate. We were very clear in our communication about what our expectations were. It’s not something that’s built immediately it’s something that’s built brick by brick.”

ADVERTISEMENT