Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane isn’t making much of his return to San Jose to face his former team. (630 CHED Face-off Show starts at 7 p.m., game at 8:30 p.m.).
“I’ve kind of moved on. I’m happy where I’m at and looking forward to the game tonight,” said Kane Monday morning.
Kane spent three-and-a-quarter seasons with the Sharks. The team terminated his contract in January. He was asked by a San Jose-based reporter why it didn’t work out with the Sharks.
“We’ve continued to beat this dead horse over and over and over again. You seem to continue to want to talk about it over and over again. I’m not even part of the team anymore. You’re probably writing more articles about me than you are anybody else on the team,” replied Kane.
“I don’t know. I’m not going to get into that. I’m here to play hockey.”
The Oilers will be looking to go 2-0 with Jay Woodcroft as the head coach. Stuart Skinner will start in goal, who Woodcroft knows well from their time together with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
“I’ve had relationship with him over the past four years. I’ve seen him progress over those four years, growing into the goalie he is today,” said Woodcroft. “I have full confidence in his ability. He’s taken a little bit of a step this year to play more NHL hockey games.”
The Oilers will once again go with 11 forwards and seven defencemen. Their expected lineup is:
Hyman – McDavid – Puljujarvi
Kane – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Foegele – Nugent-Hopkins – Ryan
Benson – McLeod
Nurse – Bouchard
Lagesson – Ceci
Niemelainen – Broberg – Barrie (third pairing rotation)
Skinner