EDMONTON, AB – Forward Adam Henrique will return to the lineup on Monday night when the Oilers host the Stars at Rogers Place for Game 3 of the Western Conference Final.
"I'm excited," Henrique said. "I'm certainly looking forward to getting back in the lineup and trying to be a difference-maker for this team."
Edmonton's trade-deadline acquisition missed the previous seven games for the Oilers with a lower-body injury he suffered in Game 5 of their opening-round series victory over Los Angeles, leading to the 34-year-old making only one appearance during Game 2 of the Second Round and recording 11:38 of ice time.
Henrique took warm-ups ahead of Saturday's Game 2 of the Western Conference Final in Dallas, but the game-time decision on whether he'd dress or not didn't go his way for the seventh straight game, showing how difficult the process has been to get the forward back to full health.
For the coaching staff, the choice of waiting until their valuable forward was at 100 percent before he got back into the lineup was made a lot easier by the depth they have up front.
"When Adam was available and feels he's 100 percent, we want him in the lineup," Knoblauch said. "He's a very important player for us. He can kill penalties, he can be on the power play, and he's a really good five-on-five player.
"There were games where we could have put him in. I would say he was very close, maybe not 100 percent, but I'm sure if it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, we would've had him in earlier. But I think with his experience and his smarts, he can help us tonight."