Oilers keep their lineup the same as they look to advance to Western Conference Finals with Wednesday win over Golden Knights

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Zach Laing | Last updated May 14, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The Edmonton Oilers will keep their Game 4 lineup the same for a pivotal game five that could punch their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.

They’ll need to secure a third win on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights to do so, something that wasn’t an issue when they won the first two games of the series in Sin City.

Outscoring Vegas 9-6 in those two games, the Oilers would drop Game 3 of the series when Leon Draisaitl accidentally deflected a puck into his own net with 0.4 seconds left in the game.

Monday night, when head coach Kris Knoblauch and his staff changed up the lineup for Game 4, the Oilers looked outright dangerous, dominating play all night long, as Stuart Skinner backstopped them to a 3-0 shutout.

That lineup is going to stay the same, according to OilersTV’s Tony Brar.

EDM lines & pairs – Wednesday Skate:

RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Kapanen
Kane – Henrique – Brown
Frederic – Janmark – Perry

• Arvidsson, Skinner, Ryan, Jones

Kulak – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Walman – Klingberg

• Emberson

Skinner
Rodrigue#Oilers

— Tony Brar (@TonyBrarOTV) May 14, 2025

Everything Knoblauch touched turned to gold with this lineup, as all four forward lines and every pairing fly on all cylinders.

The addition of Troy Stecher to the lineup helped calm down Darnell Nurse’s game, which was a boon for the Oilers, and their ability to line match at home was something Knoblauch utilized in a big way. Leon Draisaitl’s line shut down the Jack Eichel line, freeing up the other lines to contribute offensively.

The Oilers, however, know they can’t get ahead of themselves.

“We got to play one good game, that’s where our heads at,” said Draisaitl Wednesday. “Let’s play one good game here tonight and give ourselves a chance to move on.”

Depth scoring has continued to be a big thing for the team, too, getting offence up and down the lineup — something they hadn’t always had from teams in the past.

“Our depth has certainly been a huge factor in why we’re still playing and why we’re in this situation,” said Draisaitl. “When we’re on the ropes, maybe it was out top guys that kept us in it a little bit in the series past, but since then, I think it’s been our depth that’s carried us and that made the difference.”

While the Oilers are keeping their lineup in tact, the Golden Knights aren’t, blending up their forward lines and pairings, with the likes of Mark Stone, Brandon Saad, Alex Pietrangelo and Brayden McNabb all missing from morning skate.

Many players missing from morning skate. Stone, Saad, Pietrangelo, and McNabb

Leads to a massive mixup in both the forward lines and D-Pairs.

Howden-Eichel-Olofsson
Dorofeyev-Hertl-Roy
Barbashev-Karlsson-Smith
Pearson-Schwindt-Kolesar

Hanifin-Theodore
Hague-Whitecloud…

— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) May 14, 2025