Oilers reveal lines, shuffle defence pairs ahead of Game 5 in Vegas
The Edmonton Oilers will be forced to make at least one lineup change tonight.
That’s because Darnell Nurse is out, serving an automatic one-game suspension for the instigator penalty he took late in Wednesday’s game. The good news is the Vegas Golden Knights are in a similar situation, with their top blueliner Alex Pietrangelo also out of the lineup after the NHL handed him a matching one-game suspension.
Edmonton shuffled its defence pairs at the morning skate in Las Vegas, shown below by Oilers TV reporter Tony Brar. Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard remain paired together, while Brett Kulak has been elevated into a top-four role with Cody Ceci.
Philip Broberg looks like he’ll draw into the lineup on the third pair with Vincent Desharnais.
EDM lines at Morning Skate:
RNH – McDavid – (Shore)*
Kane – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Foegele – McLeod – Ryan
Kostin – Bjugstad – JanmarkEkholm – Bouchard
Kulak – Ceci
Broberg – DesharnaisSkinner
*Shore likely a placeholder for Hyman, who is not on the ice this AM#Oilers
— Tony Brar (@TonyBrarOTV) May 12, 2023
It looks like the Oilers will keep their forward lines intact, despite Zach Hyman being absent from practice. The 30-year-old winger appears to be hurting following a hit he took in Game 3 but is expected to play.
Stuart Skinner is the expected starter in net, once again.
As for Vegas, it appears Nicolas Hague will step into Pietrangelo’s spot on a pairing with Alec Martinez, as shown below by Jesse Granger from The Athletic. Ben Hutton looks like he’ll draw into the lineup for the first time in this series, on the third pair with Zach Whitecloud.
With Pietrangelo suspended, here’s how the Golden Knights defensive pairs look at morning skate:
Martinez—Hague
McNabb—Theodore
Hutton—Whitecloud— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) May 12, 2023
Tonight’s game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas begins at 8 pm MT. Both teams will be eager to head back to Edmonton with the series lead, with Game 6 scheduled Sunday at Rogers Place.
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