Carolina Hurricanes vs. Edmonton Oilers: Lineups and Game Discussion

The Carolina Hurricanes will welcome Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers for their annual visit to PNC Arena on Friday night. The Canes look to creep closer to a playoff position in the Eastern Conference as they begin a stretch of eight consecutive games against teams behind them in the NHL standings, including five at home.

The Canes received some good news yesterday as Jordan Staal returned to the practice ice for the first time in 2019, however it is unclear when he will be able to return to the lineup. For the tilt on Friday (the first of a back-to-back), the Canes will roll out a familiar lineup with Curtis McElhinney remaining in net following his win on Tuesday, with McElhinney sporting a piece of headwear.

The lineup should look like this:

Nino Niederreiter - Sebastian Aho - Justin Williams

Micheal Ferland - Lucas Wallmark - Teuvo Teravainen

Andrei Svechnikov - Jordan Martinook - Brock McGinn

Warren Foegele - Greg McKegg - Saku Maenalanen

Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton

Brett Pesce - Justin Faulk

Calvin de Haan - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Curtis McElhinney

Petr Mrazek

Expected Scratch: Jordan Staal (IR upper-body)

The Edmonton Oilers enter PNC Arena still on the outskirts of the Western Conference wildcard picture, despite a record below .500. At 1-6-2 in their last nine games, their hopes appear to be fading as the deadline approaches. But with a roster that contains perhaps the most explosive player in the league in Connor McDavid, they remain a team that cannot be counted out in the watered down Western Conference wildcard race.

Coach Ken Hitchcock talked after the team’s morning skate on Friday and discussed what he sees in the Canes this season, particularly on their blueline and the necessity for the Oilers to get pucks behind the Carolina defense:

The Oilers are expected to come out with the following lines:

Leon Draisaitl - Connor McDavid - Zack Kassian

Jujhar Khaira - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jesse Puljujarvi

Milan Lucic - Brad Malone - Alex Chiasson

Tobias Rieder - Colby Cave - Ty Rattie

Oscar Klefbom - Adam Larsson

Darnell Nurse - Kris Russell

Alex Petrovic - Kevin Gravel

Mikko Koskinen

Cam Talbot