EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers held an optional skate on Tuesday morning ahead of hosting the Detroit Red Wings in a one-off homestand at Rogers Place.
With the practice being optional, Edmonton's lines are based on Monday's full skate, where the notable change was on the fourth line with Sam Gagner being inserted at right wing alongside Derek Ryan and Connor Brown.
Mattias Janmark was the extra forward, signalling that he could be the odd man out tonight as a healthy scratch against Klim Kostin & the Red Wings, who are 10-2-2 in their last 14 games.
Gagner's opportunity to get back into the lineup for the first time in 20 days (four games) appears to be an attempt by the coaching staff to address their 5-on-5 scoring, with the 34-year-old having scored five even-strength goals in 22 games this season.
"You want to play every night and you're never happy about not playing, but I think as the year goes on, you just want to find a way to create value anyway you can," Gagner said. "You can do that playing 20 minutes or being out of the lineup. There are ways you can create value for the group and I think that's the main focus.
"I think if we're going to be a successful team, everyone has to be pulling on the rope and everyone has to be in doing their part. And regardless of your role or how much you're playing, you could still find ways to do that."
Edmonton's penalty kill had also been red hot, failing to allow a power-play goal in seven games before being beaten on back-to-back nights by Anaheim and Los Angeles, so Gagner would be expected to play a role in that department as part of Assistant Coach Mark Stuart's six-man forward rotation.
