Projected lineups for Edmonton Oilers facing Los Angeles Kings, missing multiple stars
Photo credit: Edmonton Oilers Raw
The Edmonton Oilers will be taking on the Los Angeles Kings tonight in what could've been a playoff preview matchup, but instead will look more like a preseason game.
The Oilers gave injury status updates on 9 of their players this morning, and are only expecting Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back in the lineup. They'll have a heavily depleted team tonight.
Heavily depleted Oilers team faces off against LA Kings with home ice advantage still a possibility
The Oilers didn't partake in full practice this morning, so line combinations aren't set in stone for tonight's game. However, given the status updates of who is available in tonight's game, it should look like this:
Podkolzin - Nuge - Arvidsson
Skinner - Henrique - C. Brown
Perry - Janmark - Jones
Hutson - Kapanen
Nurse - Bouchard
Kulak - Emberson
Dineen - J. Brown
Skinner - Henrique - C. Brown
Perry - Janmark - Jones
Hutson - Kapanen
Nurse - Bouchard
Kulak - Emberson
Dineen - J. Brown
The lineup is clearly missing a number of their top players, but the good news is that most will be available to return for playoffs. Mattias Ekholm has been ruled out of Round One, but Evander Kane and Trent Frederic could return early on.
Also of note, the Oilers will hold Connor McDavid out of tonight's lineup for precautionary reasons.
If any team has incentive to take an extra run at McDavid now, it's the Los Angeles Kings. It sucks for fans, but it's the right call to hold McDavid out.
Right now, the Oilers breadth of injuries needs to take priority over pursuing home ice advantage. Taking that spot away from the Kings would require the Oilers winning out with a depleted team, and the Kings losing a crucial game - some unlikely events.
Unfortunately tonight's game may not say much about Game 1 of the playoffs with the reserve Oilers playing tonight, but the season's final game against San Jose will still be the big final opportunity to ramp up for playoffs.
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AVRIL 14 | 760 ANSWERS Projected lineups for Edmonton Oilers facing Los Angeles Kings, missing multiple stars Do you think it was the right call to pull McDavid out of this game? | ||
| Yes | 659 | 86.7 % |
| No | 101 | 13.3 % |
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