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Edmonton Oilers make more line changes ahead of must-win Game 6

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
|
Jun 17 2025, 4:08 pm
Edmonton Oilers make more line changes ahead of must-win Game 6
Perry Nelson/Imagn Images

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch is hard at work trying to keep his season alive.

The Stanley Cup will be in the building tonight, as the Florida Panthers have a chance to eliminate the Oilers for a second-straight season. It’s a must-win Game 6 for the Oilers as they try to force a Game 7 back in the Alberta capital for Friday night.

It’s the first time all postseason long that Edmonton has found themselves pushed to the brink. With that, Knoblauch has been liberal in his lineup changes. On Monday morning, he trotted out a new-look lineup that seemed to indicate Vasily Podkolzin would be a healthy scratch, but that all changed today.

The Oilers held a full morning skate, where multiple changes were made to the lines. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug had the lines from Florida.

While Corey Perry was taking reps on the fourth line on Monday, he was back on the top line with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins this morning. The wily veteran has been an important offensive piece for the Oilers not only in the playoffs at large, but this Stanley Cup Final in particular.

Leon Draisaitl remains on the second line, where Evander Kane has been promoted to his left wing. Viktor Arvidsson appears to be drawing out in favour of Kasperi Kapanen. The tenacious Finn has played well in this series, despite being a healthy scratch in Game 5.

There was a belief that Jeff Skinner may get moved up to the top-six based on Monday’s line rushes, but he will remain on the third line alongside Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic. Podkolzin was skating on the fourth line with Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown.

On the backend, Knoblauch has made one change. Troy Stecher has been taken out of the lineup, and John Klingberg appears to be drawing in. He will be reunited with Jake Walman on the Oilers’ third pair.

Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard make up the top pair, while Brett Kulak will play his off-side next to Darnell Nurse.

Rishaug also reported that Stuart Skinner was in the starter’s net, indicating that the Oilers will turn back to the Edmonton native with their season on the line.

Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. MDT.

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