Oilers sticking with swapped defensive pairs against Bruins
The Edmonton Oilers are sticking with the modified defensive pairs they debuted on the weekend against the Boston Bruins tonight.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch changed up his team’s defensive pairs right before puck drop on Sunday night in what seemed like a rather strange and rushed decision. With it being the week of the trade deadline, this spawned speculation about whether or not the changes could be related to the team’s trade strategy.
Yet, two days after the changes were initially made, it looks like they will stick, as the team ran the same pairings at morning skate today. Tony Brar with OilersTV was at the skate in Boston to confirm the team’s lineup.
EDM lines & pairings in Boston:
Draisaitl – McDavid – Hyman
Kane – RNH – Janmark
Foegele – McLeod – Perry
Brown – Holloway – Ryan
GagnerEkholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Desharnais
Kulak – CeciSkinner
Pickard#Oilers— Tony Brar 🚀 (@TonyBrarOTV) March 5, 2024
Cody Ceci and Brett Kulak will make up the team’s third pairing after they combined for three points against the Penguins. It’s not a pairing that has seen a lot of time, but they’ve been able to generate some offence in that short period.
Vincent Desharnais will stay with Darnell Nurse to form an intimidating second pair. Desharnais has thrived in a third-pair role with the Oilers this season but has had some difficulty adjusting to the better competition and higher minutes that come with playing in the top four. He looked okay against a struggling Penguins team, but the Bruins will be a good test for the 27-year-old.
The always dependable Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard top pair remains untouched.
Up front, the only change to Edmonton’s forward group is the return of Derek Ryan, who will play wing alongside Dylan Holloway and Connor Brown on the team’s fourth line. Sam Gagner, who looked good on Sunday, looks like he will be out of the lineup once again.
Stuart Skinner is expected to get the start in goal for the Oilers. He is looking to avenge an exciting 6-5 OT loss to the Bruins last month. He holds a 1-2-1 career record against Boston.
It’ll be an earlier-than-usual puck drop for Oilers fans as the team embarks on an East Coast road trip. Puck drop in Boston is set for 5 pm MT.