Corey Perry was expected to be a healthy scratch this morning as the Oilers were looking to shake up their third line, but it looks like more injuries and illnesses will influence a change. According to Knoblauch, Adam Henrique has been ruled out for tonight's game, Corey Perry may end up still in the lineup, and there will be a game-time decision as a player deals with illness.
Unfortunately, it may be a seriously important player who could miss time with illness. Mattias Ekholm has been absent from practices this week, and saw a marked decrease in his regular ice time last game, to only 18 minutes compared to his usual 22+ minute deployment. Whichever player is dealing with illness will be a game time decision, and hopefully they can find the strength to push through and appear for the Oilers.
Additionally, the team announced this morning that Stuart Skinner will get the start in net once again. Skinner lost the net early in this series, and the Oilers were looking to Calvin Pickard for a more calm and collected veteran presence in net. With their season on the line, the Oilers will either win or lose with the goaltender that took them through the regular season - and may perhaps re-evaluate needing a goaltender.
With their backs against the wall on home ice, the Oilers will need to pull out their best effort of the year to extend their season and force a game 7. Even Connor McDavid and rest of the Oilers stars had a disappointing showing in game 5, and they always have a propensity to bounce back. Tonight, they'll need the entire team to pull together and beat a very well prepared Canucks team.
