Edmonton Oilers making forward line changes with Draisaitl and Kapanen out
The Edmonton Oilers are looking to keep the good times rolling tonight, but they’ll have to do it with a different-looking lineup.
Things have gone just about as well as they could have for the Oilers over the past two games. They are coming off back-to-back shutouts against the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues, and are trying to extend that streak with a struggling New Jersey Devils team in town.
They’ve done this without superstar Leon Draisaitl, who is attending to a family illness in Germany, and will now have to take to the ice without Kasperi Kapanen, who was injured against the Blues. That means a few tweaks were needed to the forward group, and head coach Kris Knoblauch showed off those changes at this morning’s practice.
It’ll be an 11-7 formation for the Oilers as they play shorthanded up front and insert Alec Regula as the extra defender. OilersTV’s Tony Brar had the full lineup from practice.
EDM lines & pairings — Tuesday’s Morning Skate:
Podkolzin – McDavid – Hyman
Frederic – RNH – Roslovic
Mangiapane – Lazar – Janmark
Howard – SavoieEkholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Emberson
Walman – Stastney
RegulaJarry
Ingram
Pickard#Oilers— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) January 20, 2026
The top line of Vasily Podkolzin, Connor McDavid, and Zach Hyman will remain together, and for good reason. That trio has combined for five goals and 10 points over the last two games.
Moving down, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will remain the second-line centre in Draisaitl’s absence, with Trent Frederic staying on his left wing. Jack Roslovic is getting the call to the right wing to replace Kapanen. Roslovic had a two-goal performance against the Canucks and was previously centring the third line.
Curtis Lazar, who has impressed in his first year with the Oilers, will centre the third line with Andrew Mangiapane and Mattias Janmark flanking him. Meanwhile, rookies Matt Savoie and Ike Howard will round out the forward group and will surely be rotated throughout the lineup.
Defensive pairs remain intact with Regula drawing back in as the seventh defender. He has missed the last four games as a healthy scratch.
Between the pipes, there was some confusion this morning as to who would get the start. Connor Ingram was in the starter’s net during practice, but Tristan Jarry wound up being the last one off the ice. It was confirmed by Knoblauch that Jarry will get his first home start since joining the Oilers.
Jarry has an 8-8-2 lifetime record against the Devils and a .899 SV% in those games. He will look to improve those numbers tonight.
Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. MST.