The Edmonton Oilers return from their bye week Saturday night with a home game against the Vancouver Canucks. It’ll be the first of many games without centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who is expected to miss five to six weeks with cracked ribs.
“It obviously hurts. A player of his calibre, what he brings to the team, it’s hard to lose a guy like that,” Leon Draisaitl said. “It’s time for other guys to step up and fill the void.”
READ MORE: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to miss 5-6 weeks as Edmonton Oilers come out of bye
One player with a chance to step up is Ryan Strome. He’s played right wing and centre throughout the season and will be in the middle against Vancouver. Strome also moves up to the first power play unit as the middle bumper player.
“I did it a bit last year,” Strome said. “Different role. Kind of converge on rebounds, shot tips, convert pucks for those guys. We have guys like McDavid and Draisaitl on the walls. You want to get those guys the puck.”
“He has a tremendous release,” head coach Todd McLellan said of Strome. “Put yourself in a position to shoot it. Secondarily, put yourself in and around the blue paint. You get your nose over the puck and you’re retrieving and finding loose stuff.”
READ MORE: Darnell Nurse the hero again as Edmonton Oilers win in Vegas
Darnell Nurse is expected to play the point on the first power play unit. His recent outburst has seen him score four goals in four games.
The Oilers expected lineup is:
Maroon – McDavid – Caggiula
Lucic – Draisaitl – Puljujarvi
Khaira – Strome – Cammalleri
Pakarinen – Letestu – Kassian
Nurse – Larsson
Sekera – Russell
Klefbom – Benning
Talbot
The Oilers and Canucks are on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 6:30 p.m. The game will start at 8 p.m.
Comments