Oilers Projected Lineup Today: Win And They're In
The Oilers celebrate their win over St. Louis on Apr. 9. (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)The playoffs are in sight.
After a couple of close calls earlier in the week, the Edmonton Oilers are once again poised to clinch a playoff spot on Friday night against the San Jose Sharks. All they need to punch their ticket is a point against San Jose or a Calgary Flames loss against the Minnesota Wild. With injuries continuing to pile up, the Oilers could use that peace of mind sooner rather than later.
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With Stuart Skinner back and Jake Walman day-to-day, defenseman Cam Dineen takes goalie Olivier Rodrigue's spot for his second game in an Oilers uniform. Though Dineen brings the Oilers' defense corps back up to a healthy six, the trio of Evan Bouchard, Darnell Nurse, and Brett Kulak will again be leaned on heavily on Friday.
*UPDATE*: Just after this article was published, The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman reported that Mattis Ekholm will make his return from injury, replacing Dineen.
The forward lines from Wednesday's win over St. Louis remain, with Connor Brown sticking on the top line after scoring two goals against the Blues. Apparently healthy and coming off a three-point night on Wednesday, Connor McDavid is seven points short of his eighth 100-point season with four games remaining.
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Stuart Skinner makes his return to the lineup, just over two weeks since taking a knee to the head courtesy of Mikko Rantanen on March 27th. The Oilers aren't rushing him back, giving Calvin Pickard his seventh start in the past eight games. Pickard owns a 4-2 record and a .901 save percentage since Skinner's injury.
This will be the second of three matchups between the Oilers and Sharks this April, with the Oilers winning their first meeting 3-2 on April 5th. They'll close out their season in San Jose on April 16th.
If the Oilers do lose to the 32nd-place Sharks, all eyes will be on the conclusion of Calgary-Minnesota, where a Wild win would eliminate the Flames and send the Oilers, Wild, and Blues to the playoffs.
The Oilers and Sharks get underway at 7:30 on Sportsnet.
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