Oilers Make No Changes To Lineup Against Islanders

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

After exploding for seven goals in Vancouver on Saturday, the Oilers are rolling out the same lineup tonight as they welcome the New York Islanders to Rogers Place.

The Oilers were led by their best players on Saturday night. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Mattias Ekholm led the team in even strength expected goals share, each of them up above 70%. Mattias Janmark picked up three assists on the fourth line, while McDavid had one of his best games of the season with a goal and two assists.

Curiously, despite the big win, the Oilers' forward lines didn't control much of the play at five-on-five against Vancouver. None of the usual lines garnered xG% over 50%, and they were joined in this by the typically solid third defence pairing of Brett Kulak and Ty Emberson.

While we know that the second line of Draisaitl, Vasily Podkolzin, and Viktor Arvidsson can drive play, the first and third lines are new. You'd expect McDavid and Hyman to be able to win their minutes handily, and Nugent-Hopkins and Brown had good showings on Saturday, so those numbers may be a blip. Still, it's worth keeping an eye on tonight. Just as the team won't always shoot 5%, they won't always shoot 22.5% like they did in Vancouver.

It's business as usual on the blueline, where Troy Stecher has laid a claim on the second pair next to Darnell Nurse. The pair dominated the Canucks, to the tune of a 67.5% xG share. With no immediate help on the way for the blueline, improved play from those two would be a huge boon for the Oilers.

Stuart Skinner will make his third consecutive start between the pipes after coming away with the win despite allowing three goals on 20 shots on Saturday. Skinner is still trying to get into a groove, with a record of 4-5-1 and a save percentage hovering around .880 this season.

Skinner has yet to string together consecutive wins this season, while the Oilers as a team haven't managed to win more than two in a row. If they can defeat the Islanders tonight, we may look back upon Saturday's beatdown of the Canucks as the turning point of the Oilers' season.

Tonight's action gets underway at 7:00, on Sportsnet West.

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