The Edmonton Oilers will get a big boost for tonight’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
After missing the last five games with an undisclosed injury, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed that Zach Hyman will return to the lineup. He was skating on the team’s top line alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
“It’s exciting, it’s a great day,” Hyman told reporters after practice. “Anytime you’re back in the lineup, you’re excited. It’s no fun when you’re on the sidelines watching, especially when you’re a little banged up. So good to be back.”
That reunites a first line that dominated the competition last season but has struggled to regain that productivity this year. Knoblauch says he is excited for that trio to get another shot at rekindling that chemistry.
“My hope is that they can pick up where they left off,” Knoblauch told reporters. “Obviously there is some rust that he hasn’t played in a couple weeks, but they are three really good hockey players that can hopefully give us a little push.
“We missed him the other night where overall against Vegas, we played a pretty good game, but it was tough to find a goal. Having a 50-goal scorer in the lineup helps with those situations.”
This means Kasperi Kapanen will fall to the Oilers’ second line with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin. The Finn impressed during his brief stint on the top line, notching a goal and assisting in the five games since Edmonton claimed him on waivers from the St. Louis Blues.
The third line will stay the same, as Adam Henrique will have Jeff Skinner and Mattias Janmark flanking him. That line looked dangerous against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, Connor Brown will slide in on the fourth line with Corey Perry and Derek Ryan. Drake Caggiula, who played on that line on Tuesday, has been sent back down to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
Between the pipes, backup goaltender Calvin Pickard will get the start against the Jackets. He has a career 2-3-1 record in six games against Columbus and carries a .885 save percentage across those games.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm MT, but that will be delayed just a bit as the team puts on a pre-game ceremony for McDavid, congratulating him on reaching 1,000 career NHL points.