Edmonton Oilers projected lineup for game three of the Stanley Cup Final

You may notice that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was not on the ice. Kris Knoblauch indicated he will be a game-time decision, with Jeff Skinner filling in for practice yesterday and would likely draw into the lineup if Nugent-Hopkins is unable to play.

Nugent-Hopkins did participate in morning skate today, however, he did get onto the ice late. We will find out soon if he is feeling well enough to play.

What has changed since game two?

The biggest changes of note are on defence. Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak had been struggling this series and are being split up. Nurse has shifted up to play with Evan Bouchard, whose actual performance together in the playoffs is underperforming the expected numbers. Kulak hops back onto the left side to play with Jake Walman. Mattias Ekholm joins John Klingberg on the third pairing.

These defensive pairings appear less as a one-two-three and more along the lines of 1A, 1B, 1C. In this format, it seems reasonable to see a more even split in ice time over the course of the game.

If Jeff Skinner draws back into the lineup tonight, he would hit the top line with Connor McDavid and Corey Perry, based on those practice lines. Though that could have been a case of plugging Skinner in there for practice rather than jumbling up all of the lines with Nugent-Hopkins being a game-time decision.

What lineup changes would you have made? Drop a comment down below!