Edmonton Oilers Announce Starting Goalie and Lineup For Tonight's Game Against Predators

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Liam McCormick
October 17, 2024 (10:50)

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The Edmonton Oilers will be turning to backup goalie Calvin Pickard to start the team's first road game of the season tonight against the Nashville Predators.

The Oilers hit the ice for practice moments ago with Pickard in the starter's crease, indicating that he is the starting goaltender. The rest of the Oilers lines will be the same as last game.

Coach Knoblauch reunited Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the top line before last game, and explained that he's trying to get his two superstars into an offensive rhythm. The Oilers have had fantastic success against the Predators in the past few years, and they'll look to continue that with a dominant performance from McDavid and Draisaitl tonight.

Beneath the superline, the Oilers lineup is looking more balanced than ever before. The second line can be a high-end scoring and checking line lead by Nugent-Hopkins and Arvidsson, while the third line has a legitimate scoring threat in Jeff Skinner alongside two defensive minded players. The fourth line will get a much needed boost of speed from Mattias Janmark next to Derek Ryan and Corey Perry.

The Oilers have been shuffling defenceman in and out of the lineup so far this year, but Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson seem to have earned another look with their play against the Flyers. Troy Stecher arguably made one of the most important plays of the game, grabbing Flyers captain Sean Couturier for a fight that really sparked the Oilers roster.

Edmonton is looking to take just their second win of the year against Nashville tonight at 6:00. Hopefully, the Oilers keep up their history of success against the Predators.