TORONTO, ON – Head Coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed there will be no changes to the Oilers lineup on Saturday night when they face the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena in the first game of their three-game Eastern Canada road trip.
Despite Viktor Arvidsson participating in the morning skate and taking reps on the second line next to Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin, the Swedish forward still isn't ready to return yet from a minor injury he sustained earlier in the week in an overtime win over the Islanders at Rogers Place.
The issue prevented him from dressing in Thursday's 3-2 extra-time triumph over the Nashville Predators.
With Arvidsson out of the lineup for the second straight game, the Oilers will roll again with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, leading to some elevated ice time for Edmonton's forwards.
"Every game is going to be a little bit different, just with ebbs and flows of the game in the defensive-zone faceoffs, offensive-zone faceoffs and penalties will have a lot to do with that," Knoblauch said. "But we've got guys who can step up and play more minutes.
"Henrique is definitely a guy that we can lean on more, and he had a little bit more ice time [last game], but certainly, there are a lot of guys that can pick up more."