PROJECTED LINEUP: Nugent-Hopkins good to go for Monday's matchup with Rangers

EDMONTON, AB – Just a bruise for Nuge.

Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (upper body) appears to have avoided major injury and will be good to go tonight, while Colton Dach (illness) will be a game-time decision for the Edmonton Oilers against the New York Rangers at Rogers Place.

Nugent-Hopkins left Saturday's 4-2 victory over Vancouver with only 6:38 of ice time and a painful bruise on the side of his head after a blind shot from his teammate Ryan Shea caught him high on his first shift of the second period, leading to his quick exit down the tunnel to the dressing room, where he'd remain the rest of the game.

But despite fearing a broken jaw at the time, the longest-tenured Oilers skater appeared to be no worse for wear following the scare and won't miss any time as the team's second-line centre between Kasperi Kapanen and Zach Hyman, albeit he'll be wearing a protective 'bubble' that he donned during Monday's morning skate.

"I kind of moved my head just in case," Nugent-Hopkins described. "Best case in a bad scenario, but it definitely was painful at the time and had to do some tests and stuff, but unfortunately couldn't get back out there. But I'll be good tonight."

Having never worn a bubble before in his career, Nugent-Hopkins said he was pleasantly surprised by how it felt, but admitted that it'll still be an adjustment.

"It's a little claustrophobic," he said. "You can't drink as easily, but it'll be fine. It felt okay. Definitely some different spots that are blocked, but overall, I was like pretty surprised at how good it was."

Goalie Devon Levi, who returned from a seven-game absence with a lower-body injury on Saturday and made 20 saves for the win against the Canucks, will start his second straight game tonight versus the Rangers, who've won three straight games.

Head Coach Mike Babcock was confident in giving the 24-year-old netminder the crease for back-to-back games despite his two-week layoff prior to Saturday, saying that they took their time bringing him back to make sure he was 100 percent healthy and that he further benefits from having a full-team day off on Sunday to recoup.

Tristan Jarry is also still recovering from an illness despite being able to back up, along with Colton Dach being a game-time decision for tonight after missing Saturday's win over the Canucks with the same illness.

"He didn't do anything yesterday," Babcock said of Jarry. "He was ready to go probably a week before we played him, and Jars hadn't really practiced. He had one skate. We didn't think that was right, so this is what we're doing."

On defence, Jake Walman will be a healthy scratch for the fifth time in seven games as the Oilers continue to deploy Shakir Mukhamadullin and Ty Emberson on the third pairing in an ongoing evaluation of who'll get the nod each night.

"I just think the bottom line is: what do you do without the puck? What chances are you involved in?  What do you do when you have it?" Babcock said. "It's a hard, hard league, so each and every night, we evaluate the whole situation."

"Unlike you guys [the media] who watch it once, we watch it over and over again with five people, so we've got a pretty good handle on all the things. Then lots of times, the analytics from the outside aren't what we have on the inside, so what we do is we just try to make the best decisions to help the team be successful. At the same time, we're trying to build everybody up so they can be the best version of themselves."

View the Oilers Projected Lineup vs. the Rangers below:

Podkolzin - McDavid - Draisaitl
Kapanen - Nugent-Hopkins - Hyman
Formenton - Dickinson - Joseph
Jones - Michaels - Frederic

Ekholm - Bouchard 
Shea - Murphy
Mukhamadullin - Emberson

Levi 
Jarry