Oilers could be making a lineup change for crucial Game 6
The Edmonton Oilers enter Game 6 against the Dallas Stars tonight with a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
After a pair of convincing wins to claw themselves back into this series, the Oilers have earned themselves an opportunity to potentially clinch the Western Conference in front of their hometown crowd.
With that, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch might be making some minor tweaks to his lineup to help give his team their best chance to eliminate the Stars tonight.
“We got one possible change and we’ll decide that after warmup,” Knoblauch told reporters this morning.
Corey Perry will be in the #Oilers lineup for tonight's potentially series-clinching Game 6. Knoblauch said that one lineup change is possible as well.
Based on morning skate, that change seems like it could be Derek Ryan coming in for Sam Carrick.
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) June 2, 2024
Corey Perry took a big hit in the first period of Game 5 that knocked him out of the game for a spell. He did return to play in that game and is expected to be back in the lineup tonight.
The potential change to the Edmonton lineup is not expected to be a major one. If morning skate was anything to go off of, Sam Carrick was on the ice while Derek Ryan was not. This suggests that Knoblauch may be inserting Ryan back into the lineup after he was a healthy scratch in Game 5.
There is also an outside chance that Warren Foegele could potentially draw back into the lineup, but that seems less likely due to him being a winger rather than a centre.
If this is the lineup change, you can expect Ryan to slot onto the team’s fourth line alongside Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown. That is a trio that has had some success in these playoffs. The rest of the forward group is expected to remain the same with Perry staying on the second line alongside Leon Draisaitl and Ryan McLeod.
On the backend, there don’t appear to be any changes to the defensive pairs. Knoblauch overhauled that group following Game 3’s loss and it has had positive results ever since. Philip Broberg is expected to play in his third straight game for the Oilers instead of Vincent Desharnais.
Stuart Skinner will be getting the nod between the pipes for the Oilers in this potentially series-clinching game. The sophomore goaltender has given exactly what the team has needed from him, posting a .905 save percentage across all five games against the Stars in this series.
Game time in Edmonton is set for 6 pm MT.
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