DALLAS, TX - The name of the game is balance tonight as the Oilers open their road trip against the Dallas Stars.
For the first time this season, Head Coach Dave Tippett is expected to deploy forward lines that have Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each in the middle of their own respective trios.
McDavid skated with Joakim Nygard and Zack Kassian during morning skate at American Airlines Center, while Draisaitl did line rushes with James Neal and Sam Gagner, and Nugent-Hopkins was between Jujhar Khaira and Alex Chiasson.
"We're looking for balance," Tippett said of the trios. "You look at this team we're playing tonight, they're a good team and they're four lines deep. We're looking for some balance, some stability in our lineup.
"I look at those three guys and they're three of our top players. We need those players to not only play well themselves, but to drag some people along with them. That's what good players do. They make other players around them better and we're hoping that's the scenario tonight."
Edmonton is 0-3-1 in its last four games, looking to put an end to the losing streak tonight against a Dallas squad that is 4-0-1 in their last five games.
The Oilers know the secret to stopping the skid is defence, defence, defence, as they've surrendered an average of 4.75 goals against over their last four matchups.
"We need to come out and play a defensively sound game," Neal said. "If we can take care of the puck in our own end and keep it out of our own net, we can score goals. We're talented that way, so I think that has to be our focus."
"We've been doing some good things, but we've been making mental errors at crucial points in games," Kassian added. "As a group, we have to defend better. We feel if we defend better, we'll win games. We have to get that goals-against number down. It's a big test for us tonight, but we have to get out of this rut."
It's only natural for teams to feel added pressure as the consecutive losses accumulate, but the Oilers are taking the recent slide in stride and believe a momentum-shifting return to the win column is imminent.
"We want to win just as bad as everyone," Kassian said. "Throughout an 82-game season, I don't know many teams that don't face adversity. Through 82 games, there's going to be some highs and there's going to be some lows.
"We have to get out of this rut sooner rather than later, and this is what teams are made of. When you go through a little adversity and come out the other side, it makes you stronger as a group."
Here is the full projected lineup for tonight vs. Dallas:
Nygard - McDavid - Kassian
Neal - Draisaitl - Gagner
Khaira - Nugent-Hopkins - Chiasson
Haas - Sheahan - Archibald
Nurse - Bear
Klefbom - Larsson
Russell - Jones
Koskinen
Smith
-- Ryan Frankson, EdmontonOilers.com
