Mark Letestu moves up as Edmonton Oilers search for offence

Fourth-line centre. Penalty killer. Power-play shooter. And now, second-line right winger.

That’s the new line on the resume of Edmonton Oilers forward Mark Letestu. He’ll skate with Milan Lucic and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, at least to start the game, when the Oilers host Dallas on Thursday night.

“I trust him,” head coach Todd McLellan said. “I believe when he steps up on the ice, he’s going to at least attempt to do things the right way within structure. He has the ability to check and play well defensively. He gives that group a righty and a lefty in the face-off circle.”

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“For me, the focus is just to be good on the wall, try to get pucks out at the blue and let those guys skate on to it,” said Letestu, who isn’t surprised by the change given that the Oilers have scored just four goals in their last three games.

“It’s not like right now we have a recipe that’s working and we have to stick with it. Our ability to not score goals has caused this shuffling.”

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The Oilers expected lineup is:

Maroon – McDavid – Draisaitl

Lucic – Nugent-Hopkins – Letestu

Caggiula – Strome – Kassian

Jokinen – Khaira – Slepyshev

Klefbom – Larsson

Russell – Benning

Nurse – Gryba

Talbot

Catch the Oilers and Stars on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 5:30 p.m. The game starts at 7 p.m.