The Edmonton Oilers are on the road again.
Still trying to shake off the rust from their post-4 Nations slump, the Oilers have quietly won three of their last four games. On Monday, they'll kick off a four-game road trip through New York and New Jersey, starting with the Buffalo Sabres.
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Jeff Skinner is poised to return to the lineup against his former team after spending the last three games as a healthy scratch. Skinner acquitted himself well in his first game against the team that bought him out over the summer, scoring a goal against the Sabres when they visited Edmonton on January 25th.
He'll join third line mainstays Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown, with Janmark drawing in at center for the first time in a while. While we've seen Janmark play some center this season, Monday marks the first time he's played over Adam Henrique at the position.
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The Oilers are also switching things up on defense, though judging by Saturday's game we'll continue to see changes throughout the night in Buffalo. Jake Walman gets a crack at first pair minutes next to Evan Bouchard with Mattias Ekholm still out, after playing nearly 25 minutes in his Oilers debut on Saturday.
That leaves Darnell Nurse to play with Troy Stecher, while Brett Kulak will play with Ty Emberson, who struggled mightily in the win over Dallas. The defense pairs will likely stay fluid as long as Ekholm and John Klingberg are out.
They'll be facing a Sabres team in the midst of a six-game losing streak that has essentially clinched its spot at the bottom of the Eastern Conference for yet another year. After getting blown out by the Anaheim Ducks last week, the Oilers can't afford another loss against a basement-dwelling team like Buffalo.
The Oilers and Sabres hit the ice at 5:00 MT, on Sportsnet.