Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are back together as the Oilers search for their first win.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are back together as the Oilers search for their first win.
The blender is out of the cupboard.
Coming off three consecutive embarrassing losses to start the year, the Oilers are shaking up their lineup ahead of tonight's game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Here are the lines the Oilers showed at this morning's skate:
The headline is Leon Draisaitl on the wing next to Connor McDavid. Along with Hyman, that's five 50-goal seasons between the three players on the top line. Considering the team's anemic 3.2 shooting percentage to start the year, it's not a bad idea to put the big dogs together to try and jumpstart the offence.
On the second line, Vasily Podkolzin gets his first crack in the top six, next to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Viktor Arvidsson. Podkolzin has been able to drive offence from the fourth line early this season, and he'll get a look next to two veterans who have had a tough time getting going so far.
Jeff Skinner moves down to the third line, to hopefully add some finishing talent to a line that's looked good but hasn't been able to capitalize on chances in the first three games.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXiUxGolhSg[/embed]
On the back end, Darnell Nurse gets his third partner of the young season in Troy Stecher. He's had a rough go of things next to both Travis Dermott and Ty Emberson, and it's extremely important that the Oilers get some quality minutes out of their second pair. I'm skeptical that Troy Stecher is the guy to unlock Nurse's game, but the Oilers are already running out of options.
Emberson draws back in after being scratched against the Flames on Sunday, while Travis Dermott gets his first night off. Both have had a rough start to the year, and the hope is that Emberson can get his legs under him on the third pair next to Brett Kulak.
Stuart Skinner makes his third start of the season, hoping to improve on his .805 save percentage.
For the Flyers, both Joel Farabee (injury) and 2024 first-round pick Jett Luchanko (healthy scratch) draw back into the lineup after missing Saturday's matchup against the Flames. Forward Scott Laughton and defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen were both absent from the Flyers' morning skate, so their availability is in question as of now, while defenceman Nick Seeler is still working his way back from injury.
Tonight's game gets underway at Rogers Place at 8:00PM MT, broadcast on Sportsnet One.
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