The Edmonton Oilers lost a heartbreaker in Game 3 to the Vegas Golden Knights after a fluke deflection by Leon Draisaitl sealed the game with just 0.4 second on the clock. Still, the Oilers battled back to tie the game with under five minutes left in the third period, and gave themselves a chance to take a 3-0 series lead.
Game 4 goes tonight, with the Oilers looking to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. After their first loss in six games, it appears the Oilers are mixing things up with both their forward lines and defence pairings.
Projected Game 4 lines versus the Vegas Golden Knights
Forwards
Hyman – McDavid – Perry
RNH – Draisaitl – Janmark
Kane – Henrique – Brown
Podkolzin – Frederic – Kapanen
Defence
Nurse – Bouchard
Wallman – Klingberg
Kulak – Stecher
Goal
Skinner
Rodrigue
Edmonton Oilers lineup thoughts
Lines for tonight’s game aren’t guaranteed as Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch has said there are a few game-time decisions tonight. Based on morning skate, it appears that Ty Emberson is coming out of the lineup in favour of Troy Stecher on the third pairing, and Kasperi Kapanen is subbing in for Viktor Arvidsson on the fourth line.
If Stecher does play, it’ll be his first NHL playoff game since 2022. Adding a proven puck mover like Stecher on the third paid will be solid for aligning offenses as all three pairings now operate somewhat similarly.
Arvidsson’s potential scratching makes sense since he only played 9:54 in Game 3 and finished with just one shot on goal and a minus-one rating. This would also be Kapanen’s first playoff game of the season and first since 2022.
Calvin Pickard is still not ready to join the team even in a backup role; he’s expected to need at least a week before he can return to game action. That means Stuart Skinner is back between the pipes for the Oilers. Skinner wasn’t horrible in Game 3, but was the main reason why the Golden Knights tied the game in the dying seconds of the game.
Skinner should be somewhere in this picture, but he slid six feet to the right of the goal and left Draisaitl to play goalie instead. Not great.
Still, Skinner wasn’t as bad as he has been so maybe he’s finding a groove. Regardless, the Oilers will be relying on him tonight.
It all rests on Skinner’s shoulders
Skinner is the most important person in the game. He’s going to need to be rock solid for the Oilers tonight as this is the swing game of the series. You can ask the Los Angeles Kings how beneficial it can be for a team to come back to tie a series after going down 2-0. This is a big game.
With home ice advantage tonight, the Oilers have a chance to really put a dagger in the Golden Knights’ chances of coming back in this series. Let’s get it done.
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