Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said Oscar Klefbom will be back in the lineup for Game 7 against the Anaheim Ducks.
“We expect Klef to be available,” McLellan said following the Oilers 7-1 win in Game 6 Sunday.
Klefbom left the warmup before Sunday’s game and was replaced in the lineup by Griffin Reinhart.
Klefbom was in considerable pain after blocking a shot with his upper body in the opening period of Game 5, although he did return and play the rest of the contest.
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Andrej Sekera was also out of the lineup in Game 6 and will not be returning for Wednesday’s seventh game, according to the Oilers. Sekera left Game 5 and didn’t return with an apparent leg injury after taking a hit in the first period from Ryan Getzlaf.
Griffin Reinhart and Eric Gryba replaced Klefbom and Sekera Sunday and played solid on the blue line during their 13 minutes of ice time.
“Gryb’s been ready to go, chomping at the bit to get in, and we knew he would give us a good game,” McLellan said.
“Griffin was the wildcard, but he came in and played very admirably.”
“Obviously, it takes a little bit to get caught up with the pace and the game. I thought I played within myself and obviously it helps when the team plays as well as they did tonight,” Gryba said.
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It was Gryba’s first game since Game 1 of the opening round series against the San Jose Sharks, while Reinhart has spent the entire season in the American Hockey League and Sunday marked just his second career post-season NHL game.
“I think I was a little nervous. I got the chance to do the same situation with the Islanders and I didn’t perform that well, so I learned some things from that and tried to keep it simple early,” Reinhart said.
“You can’t really simulate game situations that well when it comes to battling, but I thought I got better as the game went on.”
Matt Benning and Darnell Nurse were called upon to play heavier minutes Sunday and both of the young defencemen had standout performances. Nurse played 19:25 and was a plus two, while Benning was on the ice for 23:38 and also was a plus two.
“I thought Matt Benning had a tremendous night all over the rink but in particular on the power play,” McLellan said.
The Oilers and Ducks will play Game 7 in Anaheim.