PROJECTED LINEUP: Oilers vs. Flyers

EDMONTON, AB – Loading up the top line.

The Edmonton Oilers will be going with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same line on Tuesday night when they try to break out of their three-game losing streak to begin the regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers at Rogers Place.

Zach Hyman will round out the top-line trio, with the winger having registered no points and a -4 plus/minus through Edmonton's opening three games.

"Just so they all feel it, have the puck, and make plays," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said of his top-line deployment. "Right now, for any skilled player or any player in particular, when you get that first goal or assist, it makes you feel much better. Hopefully, they can play their best."

With the move to put the Dynamic Duo together, the Oilers' middle six is expected to shuffle as well, leading to an opportunity for Vasily Podkolzin to start alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Viktor Arvidsson on the second line after the off-season trade acquisition from Vancouver showcased himself well in a bottom-six role during his first three games with his new club.

"I think he's played really well," Knoblauch said. "He's done a lot of good things offensively. He's had his chances, but also, this gives us a little bit more of his physical play and we need a little more of that. And he's been providing. That gives him an opportunity to move up in the lineup and we'd like to see [him there]. That's going to fluctuate. He's going to see his ice time increase a little bit, but it's not going to be drastic."

Winger Jeff Skinner, who scored his first Oilers goal and Edmonton's only tally in Sunday's 4-1 defeat in the Battle of Alberta to the Flames, will flank Adam Henrique and Connor Brown on the team's third forward unit. The fourth line will stay status quo from the weekend.

On the blueline, defenceman Ty Emberson is slated to make his return to the lineup tonight in place of Travis Dermott next to Brett Kulak on the third pairing after serving as the healthy scratch on Sunday. Darnell Nurse and Troy Stecher will make up the club's second pairing behind the ever-present duo of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard.

Coach Knoblauch says they're still working to find the right defensive combinations early this season after cycling through a few different pairings – including a few different partners for Darnell Nurse.

"I think it's important that you build chemistry; to have the right partner to play with and know what each guy wants," he said. "But we do also have other pairs that are trying to build chemistry. It's not ideal that Darnell's had the amount of partners that he's had, but I think the two guys have been kind of taking over more.

"We've got Stetcher there tonight, but Dermott the previous two games had done well and I think there'll be maybe some rotation there, but I'm not sure what the answer is going to be. Hopefully, something clicks, and we can move forward."

Goaltender Stuart Skinner is expected to start his second straight game after allowing three goals on 28 shots versus Calgary.

View the Oilers Projected Lineup vs. Philadelphia below:

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

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Stecher
Kulak - Emberson

Skinner
Pickard