PROJECTED LINEUP: Henrique draws back in for Game 3 against Dallas

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."

Knoblauch also confirmed that Ryan McLeod will be the forward who comes out in favour of Henrique, who's expected to play on the third line either at centre or wing. After Monday's pre-game skate was optional, lineup combinations will need to be confirmed during warm-ups.

"My game doesn't really change. It stays the same whether I'm playing on the third line or whatever it may be, so hopefully, we have some chemistry right off the bat," Henrique said. "I think for us as a group or as a line, play a hard, simple game, get up and down the ice, try to use our speed and use what we have to be effective and be difference-makers."

The bench boss sees the decision to keep McLeod out tonight as similar to how goaltender Stuart Skinner was able to rebound from a two-game break during the series against the Canucks, collecting himself from a few tough performances early on before rallying in Games 6 & 7 with a pair of solid performances.

McLeod has been one of Edmonton's primary penalty-killers to help their team kill off 20 straight penalties, bringing their efficiency while shorthanded this postseason to 38-for-41 (92.7 percent), which leads all remaining teams in the playoffs. While the 24-year-old might also be one of their fasted players in the lineup, he's yet to record a point over 14 playoff games in 2024, recording a -5 plus/minus and getting outscored 6-1 by the opposition at five-on-five.

The Oilers will have more hard decisions to make with Henrique returning to full health, but the move to change out McLeod is looking like an opportunity for the coaching staff to allow him to reset before he's inevitably back in the lineup during this series.

"Absolutely. It's a reset," Knoblauch said. "Clouder is going to be part of this team. Whether he comes in the next game or the following one, we're going to see him sooner than later.

"There's a lot to like about his game. A lot of it is from the penalty kill. He's been contributing a lot there with his quickness. His reads five-on-five haven't been quite like they had been, especially during the middle part of the season in January. February was probably his top performance, but I think it's important that he just has a little reset.

"We've got a lot of players who are playing well, and it's been difficult to take anybody out of the lineup – whether that's been Corey Perry, Connor Brown or Sam Carrick. We have depth. We've got a lot of good players that are healthy and can help us win."

View the Oilers Projected Lineup for Game 3 vs. Dallas:

Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Hyman
Kane - Draisaitl - Holloway
Foegele - Henrique - Ryan
Janmark - Carrick - Brown

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Desharnais
Kulak - Ceci

Skinner