Oilers confirm lineup for Game 1 of Western Conference Finals
The Edmonton Oilers have confirmed the lineup that they will run in Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals series against the Dallas Stars tonight.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch met with media before this morning’s skate for the Oilers and divulged that the team will be running with the same lineup that played in Game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night.
This means that injured forward Adam Henrique will not be returning to action quite yet, though he is expected to play in either Game 2 or Game 3. The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman had the report on social media.
Kris Knoblauch confirms the same lineup for the Oilers tonight as Game 7 vs. VAN.
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) May 23, 2024
That forward group had quite a bit of success against the Canucks in Game 7 as they opened up a 3-0 lead through the first 40 minutes and led on the shot clock by a dizzying 27-12 margin at one point.
That effort was led by a dominant first line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid, and Zach Hyman, while Leon Draisaitl anchored the second line next to Evander Kane and Dylan Holloway.
Much has been said about the team’s lack of scoring from the third line of Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod, and Derek Ryan but the defensive results have been encouraging. McLeod in particular needs to get more involved in the postseason as he sits with zero points in 12 games.
Corey Perry will not get a chance against his former team to open up this series. He has been a healthy scratch for three straight games as the team opts for a fourth line of Mattias Janmark, Sam Carrick, and Connor Brown.
On the defensive end, Darnell Nurse and Vincent Desharnais look like they will stick together to start the series, while Brett Kulak and Cody Ceci will handle the third pair. Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard remain the Oilers’ top defensive pair.
Finally, between the pipes for Edmonton will be Stuart Skinner, who is looking for his third straight win after staving off the Canucks in Games 6 and 7. He has a career 2-2-0 record against the Stars and a .894 save percentage. He only faced a total of 32 shots from the Canucks in those last two games and should have a much heavier workload against a deeper Dallas club.
At the other end of the ice, the Stars will be without top forward Roope Hintz and defenceman Jani Hakanpää due to injuries. Goalie Jake Oettinger is expected to start in goal for Dallas despite reportedly dealing with some sort of illness.
We’ll see if Knoblauch has cooked up a winning formula when the team opens up their series in Dallas tonight at 6:30 pm MT.
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