As if Edmonton Oilers fans weren’t stressed out enough about tonight’s do-or-die elimination Game 5 against the Anaheim Ducks, head coach Kris Knoblauch advised that Connor McDavid will be a game-time decision (along with Jason Dickinson). Needless to say, that is a very scary proposition for the Oilers and their fans.
What does Connor McDavid’s game-time status mean for the Oilers?
It seems pretty obvious how big a loss not having Connor McDavid available tonight is. The Oilers did not win a single regular season game this year when McDavid did not register a point. That performance is what led to him being named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award today. Sure, they actually did win Game 1 of this series without him getting on the scoresheet, but that doesn’t exactly seem like a winning strategy.
McDavid failed to get a point in the first two games of the series, and while he does have four points in the last two games, he still looked to be struggling. That was especially the case after suffering an injury in Game 3. While the nature of the injury isn’t known, it is safe to assume it is the reason he is a game-time decision tonight.
The Oilers are 28-33-10 during the McDavid era when he has not been in the lineup, which isn’t terrible by any means, but certainly not as good as it is with him.
Considering the Oilers have to win tonight to keep their season alive, not having McDavid is the absolute worst-case scenario for the team.
Elimination Game Projected Lineup?
There is no projected lineup from the morning skate, and with both McDavid and Dickinson being game-time decisions, that could drastically alter the lineup.
Dickinson has already missed two games this series, but he has three points in the two games he played. Those were also the games the Oilers won and the one they lost in overtime. So while the spotlight is obviously on whether McDavid plays, not having Dickinson would also be a huge blow to the team.
We would expect Vasily Podkolzin, Leon Draisaitl and Kasperi Kapanen to remain together, given they have been far and away the best line for the team. If McDavid can’t go, then they will have to do even more heavy-lifting if the Oilers are going to stand any chance of avoiding elimination tonight.
Colton Dach was skating and appears to be ready to be back in the lineup after missing Game 4 due to illness.
What the rest of the lines will be likely won’t be known until puck drop, however.
With respect to the defence, the pairings were different at practice:
It appears that these pairings are just for practice purposes, and that the usual pairs of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard, Darnell Nurse and Connor Murphy, and Jake Walman and Ty Emberson will remain in place tonight.
Connor Ingram is back in the net
Knoblauch also announced today that Connor Ingram will start tonight, taking back the crease after Tristan Jarry started Game 4.
Jarry wasn’t amazing in Game 4, but he didn’t necessarily play any worse than Ingram had in Games 2 and 3. However, Knoblauch reiterated that Ingram has been the starter and remains the starter, so it does make sense for the team to go back to him.
Is going with Ingram the right call? What should the Oilers lines look like if McDavid and/or Dickinson can’t play? Let us know in the comments!
One Comment