Edmonton Oilers making major line changes and Nugent-Hopkins might be injured
The Edmonton Oilers appear to be making some pretty major lineup changes, and they may be without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
This comes after the Oilers narrowly lost Game 2 in double-overtime, knotting up the Stanley Cup Final series at 1-1 heading back to Florida. It was a game that saw the Oilers outplayed for large chunks, but some late-game heroics from Corey Perry pushed things into sudden death.
The team took to the ice in Florida on Sunday morning for a full practice ahead of Monday night’s Game 3. Nugent-Hopkins wasn’t skating, and a bevy of changes were made to the defensive pairs.
OilersTV’s Tony Brar had the full lineup from Amerant Bank Arena.
EDM lines & pairings – Sunday:
Skinner* – McDavid – Perry
Kane – Draisaitl – Kapanen
Frederic – Henrique – Brown
Podkolzin – Janmark – Arvidssonā¢ Ryan, Jones (RNH* not on ice)
Nurse – Bouchard
Ekholm – Klingberg
Kulak – Walmanā¢ Stecher, Emberson
Skinner
Pickard#Oilers— Tony Brar š (@TonyBrarOTV) June 8, 2025
Up front, the forward lines remain largely unchanged except the top line. Jeff Skinner was skating with Connor McDavid and Corey Perry in place of Nugent-Hopkins.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters after the skate that he thinks Nugent-Hopkins will play Game 3, but it will be a game-time decision.
The big changes, outside of Nuge, came on the blueline.
Darnell Nurse was skating on the top pair alongside Evan Bouchard, while Mattias Ekholm was bumped down to the second pair with John Klingberg. Meanwhile, Jake Walman has switched to the right side on the third pairing with Brett Kulak.
Those are some major changes by defensive coach Paul Coffey, and they offer up a few questions. Nurse, in particular, has struggled against the Panthers through two games, so promoting him to the top pair is an interesting decision. Demoting Walman, who has looked great through two games, is another strange move.
No surprises in the Oilers’ cage, as Stuart Skinner is the expected starter tomorrow. He has a .893 save percentage through the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final. The Edmonton native seems fine after a collision with Florida’s Sam Bennett in Game 2.