Evander Kane could return to the Edmonton Oilers lineup Thursday night against the Boston Bruins (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 4 p.m., game at 5:30 p.m.).
Kane hasn’t played since Feb. 17, as he recovered from an upper body injury. At Wednesday’s practice in Boston, he was on a line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman.
“I see a hockey player with great on-ice habits,” said head coach Jay Woodcroft of Kane. “Someone that goes hard to the net, takes pride in his wall work, someone who is physical, someone who understands ways to change momentum in the game that have nothing to do with scoring a goal.”
Kane has been limited to just 24 games this season, putting up nine goals and ten assists. He missed over two months after having his wrist cut with a skate blade against Tampa Bay on Nov. 8.
“His presence, physicality — Just a bring strong guy. Gets in on the forecheck, hits guys. Does those thing that you need to do later on in the year and in the playoffs to be successful,” noted Hyman.
The Bruins have won ten straight games. They beat the Oilers 3-2 at Rogers Place last Monday.
“Great challenge for us. I think we’ve played some good hockey here as of late,” said defenceman Mattias Ekholm. “We’ve shown what we can do, but we obviously know they probably have the best team in the league right now.”
“They just find ways to win,” Hyman said. “I though the game we played against them was competitive and we were right in it, but they found a way to win.”
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