PROJECTED LINEUP: Oilers at Canucks

VANCOUVER, BC – The Edmonton Oilers aren't expecting to make any changes to their lineup on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks in their first visit to Rogers Arena since Game 7 of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Based on Edmonton's full pre-game skate, the Oilers are poised to keep their lines status quo from Wednesday's 4-2 defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights, where they enjoyed a solid opening 50 minutes before Noah Hanifin scored twice in the second half of the third period to steal the win.

"I think we're a click away from kind of connecting and gelling," forward Connor Brown said. "Once we find that connection, once we gel, we can beat anybody and we can get on a real roll, so I don't think we're far."

• PREVIEW: Oilers at Canucks

Tonight, the Oilers hope to put in a full 60-minute effort with the same lineup against another Pacific Division rival in the Canucks, who'll be without the services of Brock Boeser due to an upper-body injury he sustained after taking a high hit from Tanner Jeannot during Vancouver's victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the Canucks have struggled in 65 total games without Boeser in the lineup, going 27-28-10 in those matches.

The Canucks are returning home after sweeping their three-game California road trip for the first time in franchise history, and are 7-1-1 in their last nine games after losing their opening three contests of the regular season.

"I think they're just a well-coached team," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "They've got well-balanced lines, everyone digging in and are playing a pretty good system. Their special teams have been pretty solid, especially their penalty kill. So they don't have many weaknesses to their game."

Stuart Skinner will draw his second straight start at Rogers Arena, hoping to build consistency in his game and keep simplifying his approach this season after putting in solid back-to-back starts against the Golden Knights and the Calgary Flames.

Skinner has a 1-4-0 record in six career regular-season games against Vancouver, owning a 4.04 goals-against average and .855 save percentage against the Canucks.

Over five career playoff meetings – all of which came during the Second Round of the 2024 Playoffs – the Edmonton-born netminder is 3-2-0 with a 3.17 GAA and .833 SV%, and his last two wins in Games 6 & 7 while facing elimination were vital to Edmonton advancing to the Western Conference Final.

"I feel really good about my game," Skinner said. "I would say there's been a couple of games throughout the season where I was not very good at all, but in a season, that happens. So it's how you bounce back from that, and I feel like where my game's at, it's in a good spot. It's the same thing as the team, to be honest – you just have to keep on moving forward and keep on trying to figure out what you can do to be just a little bit better every day."

Defenceman Vincent Desharnais will suit up for his first regular season game against the Oilers since departing the club as a free agent this past Summer to and joining the Canucks on a two-year contract.

"Waking up this morning, there were a little bit of butterflies seeing all my old teammates, and I had some great years in Edmonton," Desharnais said. "But at the end of the day, I'm here to do a job and the game doesn't change once the puck drops."

View the Oilers Projected Lineup vs. Vancouver below:

Forwards

Skinner - McDavid - Hyman
Podkolzin - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
Henrique - Nugent-Hopkins - Brown
Janmark - Ryan - Perry

Defence

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Stecher
Kulak - Emberson

Goalies

Skinner
Pickard