Oilers Make Big Forward Line Changes
Edmonton Oilers forward lines will look different for Game 1 against the Florida Panthers.
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports - Oilers Make Big Forward Line ChangesEDMONTON -- The times they are a-changin'.
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The Edmonton Oilers will look to become the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since 1993. In order to break the drought, they will need to win four games against the Florida Panthers.
They took to the ice this morning for practice before they fly to Florida for Game one on Saturday. Kris Knoblauch took the liberty of changing up the lines a bit than what they deployed in their series winning game against the Dallas Stars.
The only absence from skate was Evander Kane, who is nursing an injury and is expected to be healthy enough to play on Saturday. His placeholder - Warren Foegele - was skating on the second line alongside Leon Draisaitl and Dylan Holloway.
That's the first of a few changes.
The third and fourth line centers have swapped positions, with Adam Henrique pencilled in flanked by Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown. That brings Derek Ryan up from the fourth line, Corey Perry down from the second line, to create the team's new third line with Ryan McLeod. Ryan and Sam Carrick were interchangeable in the third line center position.
From looking at the two bottom six lines - it appears that Knoblauch is trying to even out those two lines to both be a "third line." This is an excellent approach that (for the Oilers sake) hopefully pays off.
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There appears to be no changes to the defense pairings for now. Stuart Skinner is also the expected starter for Game one. Saturday's game will be broadcast at 6 PM Mountain time.
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