The Edmonton Oilers made a surprise change right before playing the Seattle Kraken.
EDMONTON -- Release the Kraken!
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The Edmonton Oilers are set to face the Seattle Kraken tonight on Hockey Night in Canada. It will be the first time the two teams have met this year. They will play each other four times over the whole season.
The Oilers are playing good hockey lately. They are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. On the other hand, the Kraken have hit a bit of a rough patch with only three wins in their past 10 games.
Calvin Pickard will be tonight's starting goalie. This makes sense considering that Stuart Skinner played the full game last night.
The only other change to the lineup will be Derek Ryan drawing in with Corey Perry coming out. In the grand scheme of things it's not a big change. It's a lateral move that allows them to have another natural center dressed.
According to warm ups, the Oilers will run a different bottom six composition. Adam Henrique will center Mattias Janmark and Zach Hyman for the third line. Ryan will center the fourth line with Jeff Skinner and Kasperi Kapanen.
Tonight's game will be interesting. With the team on the road, they won't have the luxury of last change.
Expect to see some players who didn't play a lot last night to potentially play more minutes tonight. Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson are two guys on the blueline who could see more minutes.
Outside of Perry, the next forwards with the least ice time were Skinner, Kapanen, Henrique, and Connor Brown. I'd be comfortable pencilling in Henrique and Brown for more minutes tonight.
The Kraken announced that Yanni Gourde will not play against the Oilers tonight.
It's time to get Kraken.
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