BOSTON, MA – Based on Monday’s full-team practice, the Edmonton Oilers are expected to elevate winger Jeff Skinner to the third line with Zach Hyman and Adam Henrique on Tuesday night when they take on the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
“He’s been playing really well and playing hard,” said Head Coach Kris Knoblauch following Tuesday morning’s optional skate.
“For any player, it’s important to have confidence, and he’s starting to find that. You can see that in his play. The night before, he set up Nurse’s goal, and the other night, he had a nice finish of his own. He’s been able to make more plays. Hyman’s obviously one of our top forwards playing on that line, and Rico is another guy who’s played a lot and is a good hockey player. Hopefully, we get a strong performance.”
The 32-year-old winger has points in his last two games (1G, 1A) and will get the opportunity to build on his recent performances as part of a skilled third line that shows the depth that the Oilers have available up front, allowing them to assemble a bottom-six trio that owns a combined 846 career goals.
“We just want to win,” Hyman said. “It doesn’t matter who’s contributing or how we get it done – we just want to get the win.”
After sitting out the second of back-to-back games, veteran Corey Perry will return to the lineup on the fourth line with Mattias Janmark and Kasperi Kapanen. Janmark will play up the middle between the two wingers, with centre Derek Ryan expected to serve as the extra forward.
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