The Edmonton Oilers took to the ice moments ago for practice before their game against the Carolina Hurricanes, rolling with the same lineup from last game and still without Darnell Nurse.
Darnell Nurse sustained an injury in the Oilers last matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and has been deemed day-to-day. It appears he will be unavailable to play Carolina.
Oilers double down on most recent lineup against Carolina Hurricanes
According to reporter Tony Brar at practice, the Edmonton Oilers will be rolling with the exact same lineup from their last game against the Tampa Bay Lightning - which is an interesting choice considering their losing streak.
Top prospect Matthew Savoie is expected to be the only healthy scratch, a disappointing outcome after 3 quality games.
Calvin Pickard in line to start in Oilers next game against Carolina Hurricanes
The entire lineup will remain the same, with the exception of Calvin Pickard in the starting goalie net, appearing in line to face the Carolina Hurricanes.
Pickard has regularly been playing every 2-3 games this season, but has interestingly earned some more starts against contending teams. The Oilers game afterward is against the Anaheim Ducks, which would've been a better slot for Pickard.
With starts against Washington and Carolina now, Pickard is being assigned tougher tests. Some Oilers fans have believed these decisions in goalie scheduling have been to allow Skinner to find some confidence against weaker teams.
Oilers look to bounce back against tough opponent in Carolina Hurricanes
The Edmonton Oilers will need to bring their best effort to shake off the rust of their 5 game losing streak against the Hurricanes.
Running back the same lineup is rare from Coach Knoblauch who famously mixes the likes to practically no end. In that sense, it could be a challenge from the coach that this group of players can get a better result.
With just a few games left until the trade deadline, the Oilers are in desperate need of a win to calm the noise and steady their minds heading into the most important playoff run yet for Edmonton.
