Knoblauch confirms Mattias Ekholm won’t be ready for Game 2 in Dallas

After a catastrophic defensive collapse cost the Edmonton Oilers Game 1 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars, they’ll look to shake it off and re-group quick to try and steal a win on the road Friday night.

Unfortunately, it looks like they’ll still be without a key blueliner, as head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed Thursday that Mattias Ekholm will not be ready to make his return to play for Game 2, per The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman.

Due to an upper-body injury, Ekholm has only played one game since March 26th, logging under two minutes in a shaky appearance mid-April. It was originally reported he may be out for the remainder of the season, playoffs included, but later confirmed that he would return sometime in the postseason depending how deep Edmonton made it.

Now with the Oilers back in the Conference Finals, the Swedish defenceman has returned for full practices this week, skating as an extra. While Ekholm won’t play Friday, his return is expected imminently, perhaps as soon as Game 3 when the series shifts back to Alberta.

Ahead of Game 1, the veteran blueliner spoke about how impressed he’s been with how Edmonton’s defence has handled themselves in his absence:

“ Amazing. I think they’ve done really, really well,” he said to reporters after Monday’s practice. “Playing fast, plain, simple, moving pucks. You look at our defensive numbers and how many goals we ultimately have let in in the last whatever games, it’s been pretty down, right? That’s a credit to the whole team, but I think our D-core has been very sound. Obviously there’s a lot of experience on that back end right now. So, love the way they’re playing and hopefully we keep it going.”

And while Game 1 certainly wasn’t the defensive start they wanted to this series, they have an opportunity to bounce back and prepare for the Stars’ relentless attack, as they’ve managed to do all postseason.

Ekholm was +9 with 10 points in 25 games in last year’s playoff run, logging an average of 21:58 crucial minutes per game as the Oilers battled their way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. As they seek revenge this year and chase the ultimate crown of hockey, they’ll hope they can do it with their veteran defenceman back, healthy, and leading the way.

Puck drops for Game 2 Friday night at 6pm MDT.