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Edmonton Oilers make wholesale line changes and two players are injured

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Nov 19 2025, 5:53 pm
Edmonton Oilers make wholesale line changes and two players are injured
Sergei Belski/Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers are making a ton of changes to their lineup against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

Coming off one of the most disheartening losses of the season, a 5-1 result against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night, head coach Kris Knoblauch has once again brought out the line blender. Every single forward line and defensive pair has been changed heading into tonight’s matchup.

Part of that is due to poor results, but also because of two injuries to forwards Noah Philp and Curtis Lazar. Both players are expected to miss the remaining three games left on this road trip.

Knoblauch met with the media and confirmed that the team’s limited cap space will force them to play with an 11-7 formation for those games.

“Upper-body injuries, they will be out for this road trip and possibly return sometime next week,” Knoblauch said.

As for the lineup, Knoblauch is trying out several new combinations. A red-hot Jack Roslovic will take over Zach Hyman’s spot on the top line, where he will play with Connor McDavid and rookie Matt Savoie. Roslovic has been the hottest Oilers forward over the last few weeks and seemed to have a bit of chemistry with Savoie.

Leon Draisaitl will pivot the second line with Vasily Podkolzin and Andrew Mangiapane on the wings. While Draisaitl has been producing, the Oilers desperately need more offence from both Podkolzin and Mangiapane.

Hyman will slide down to the third line to play with Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic, who has enjoyed a brutal start to the season with just a single point in 21 games. Mattias Janmark and David Tomášek will round out the forward group

“Felt that we’d spread out the scoring with our three lines,” Knoblauch said. “A little more push, shift-in, shift-out. Not taking the foot off the gas. There are gonna be times where Washington has their chances, but ultimately we need each line giving us a little more, setting up the next line.”

On the backend, a struggling Darnell Nurse has somehow found a way to be promoted to the top pair with Evan Bouchard. Mattias Ekholm will slide down to the second pair, where Brett Kulak will switch to the right side to be his partner.

Jake Walman has been reverted to his natural left side on the third pairing, with Alec Regula stationed as his partner on the right. Ty Emberson will suit up and be rotated in as the game goes on.

“There is gonna be a lot of rotation there,” Knoblauch said. “We’ll expect Kulak to play some left and right side, probably Walman too.”

OilersTV’s Tony Brar had the full look at the lineup at the morning skate.

Knoblauch confirmed that Stuart Skinner would be making his third consecutive start. The 27-year-old goaltender has a career 2-3-0 record in five games against the Capitals.

It’ll be an early start for Oilers fans, with puck drop set for 5 p.m. MST.

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