Scenes from Morning Skate: Will Jason Dickinson return for Oilers in Game 4?

It’s a pivotal game for the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, one that could determine their fate in the 2026 NHL playoffs.

Win, and they retake home ice advantage over the Anaheim Ducks. Lose, and they face a 3-1 series deficit that would force a do-or-die Game 5 in Edmonton on Tuesday.

After mounting a comeback in Game 1 to win, the Oilers have looked nothing short of flat in disappointing Game 2 and 3 performances. The Oilers, of course, were without centres Jason Dickinson and Adam Henrique for both of those games, forcing new faces into the mix on an Edmonton penalty kill that’s sputtered.

Now, the question is whether either will return for Game 4.

The Oilers were without Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl during Saturday’s practice, forcing some, well, convoluted lines.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins skated alongside Zach Hyman, as Jack Roslovic and Matt Savoie rotated on the wings. Dickinson and Curtis Lazar rotated between Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen. Josh Samanski skated between Colton Dach and Trent Frederic.

Take it how you will, but Dickinson not only fully partook in the practice, but spoke to the media after Edmonton’s skate, saying he was itching to get back in the lineup.

“I hope (I can return). Today went really well,” he said. “This has been a day-to-day thing I’m really trying to manage. If I wake up and feel great, then I’m definitely going to be playing.”

Dickinson missed the final three regular season games after painfully blocking a shot against the San Jose Sharks on April 8, and despite scoring two goals in Game 1, was visibly shaken up when his skate caught a rut. He had been playing against the Ducks’ top-six in that game, helping suppress lines that have since eaten the Oilers up.

Josh Samanski has been thrust into a penalty kill role since, averaging 1:24 in ice time in Games 2 and 3, a minute increase from his regular season usage, while the likes of McDavid and Draisaitl have had to play some minutes too. Even Zach Hyman has taken a shift or two. Edmonton’s penalty kill — and special teams as a whole — have been anything but special, but a return for Dickinson, who became a key killer down the stretch run of the season, would be massive.

As noted by play-by-play man Jack Michaels, early series struggles aren’t new for the Oilers. Under Kris Knoblauch, the Oilers are 11-16 in the first three games of a series, but are a staggering 19-4 in Games 4 through 7. In each of their last six Game 4’s where they trailed a series 2-1, they won. This team knows how to smell blood in the water, and no matter how impressive these young Anaheim Ducks have been, they’re still a team largely cutting their teeth in the NHL playoffs.

The Ducks, meanwhile, are expected to roll with the same lineup as their previous two games, meaning defenceman Radko Gudas will miss his third straight game.