Edmonton Oilers reveal starting lines and goalie for playoffs against Vegas

The Oilers frequently changed their lines in the first round against Los Angeles, re-uniting McDavid and Draisaitl for long stretches and also splitting them up.

According to reporter Bob Stauffer at practice, the Oilers' expected line combinations are as follows:

McDavid and Draisaitl are still paired up with Corey Perry on the right wing, allowing the Oilers to run a quality second line of Kane, Nugent-Hopkins, and Hyman.

Trent Frederic is up on the third line as he's continued to improve through the playoffs as he returns from injury. Podkolzin and Arvidsson down on the fourth line have created havoc, and given Knoblauch a balanced 4 line team to deploy.

Defence pairs will remain the same, unfortunately still with Nurse and Bouchard paired together.

Stauffer believes Calvin Pickard will continue to get the starter's crease for Game 1, but Stuart Skinner was seen practicing in the starter's net. Still, it may not mean anything. Reintroducing Skinner on the road would be a massive risk.

McDavid and Draisaitl have been a dominating force together in the playoffs, but right now, that second line is squarely winning their minutes - and actually ranked first in the NHL playoffs. That combination is worth another look in the second round, and it also keeps the Oilers superstars dominating together.

In the first round, Knoblauch mentioned he challenged each line to bring something to the table individually while refusing to abide by line matchups against the Kings. It's brought incredible performances out of their depth players.

Keeping McDavid and Draisaitl together or separate has been a topic of debate for years, but Knoblauch has found a combination with the added talent to create 4 lines with their superstars united. It's the best of both worlds.