Matt Benning will return to the Oilers lineup on Tuesday night when Edmonton plays the Jets in Winnipeg.
The defenceman was a healthy scratch on Sunday for the Oilers’ 2-1 win over the New York Rangers.
Benning struggled in the Oilers’ first two games of the season — losses against the Devils and Bruins.
“You play this game to play — not sit in the stands — so that was tough,” Benning said on Tuesday. “I’m looking to go in there tonight and simplify and play a solid defensive game.”
“We’ve looked at his game. We’ve talked to him about his game,” said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan. “We expect better from him. He’s got a lot more in him than he’s shown.
“Last year was a little bit of a slow start as well, so hopefully he comes out of it a bit quicker.”
Benning is expected to be on the Oilers third pairing along with Jason Garrison. Garrison played just over 11 minutes against the Rangers when he was paired with rookie Evan Bouchard.
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“You just have to use your minutes to the best you can,” Benning said. “Our structure that we fall back on, we know where each other will be.”
The Oilers (1-2) will be trying to snap a three-game losing streak against the Jets (3-2).
“They’re a tremendous team right now,” McLellan said. “They were good last year and they’re probably even better this year.
“Their firepower is four lines deep. They have some big powerful defencemen that affect the outcome of the play,” McLellan added. “It would certainly be one of our goals to make sure they’re expending more energy in their zone and through the neutral zone than they are in ours.”
The Oilers expected lineup is:
Nugent-Hopkins – McDavid – Rattie
Lucic – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Caggiula – Strome – Puljujarvi
Khaira – Brodziak – Rieder
Klefbom – Larsson
Nurse – Russell
Garrison – Benning
Talbot
Catch the Oilers and Jets on 630 CHED with the Faceoff Show at 4:30 p.m. The game begins at 6 p.m.
Watch below: Some videos from Global News’ coverage of the Edmonton Oilers in 2018.
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