CHICAGO, IL – The personnel will be the same but there's a small tweak to the forward lines expected as the Oilers open a three-game road trip against the Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Based on morning skate line rushes at United Center, the team's third line is now Evander Kane, Derek Ryan and Connor Brown, while Adam Erne, James Hamblin and Mattias Janmark make up the other bottom-six trio.
"He's been making a lot of plays, creating a lot of offence," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said of Brown. "It hasn't shown up on the score sheet very much, but he's been playing really well.
"And I think it's just more of seeing if we can get a little more out of those two lines. I think they've maybe become a little stagnant, haven't been pushing the pace as much as we'd like. Just a little tweak there and maybe we can stimulate something with that third and fourth line."
Sam Gagner participated in the skate as well but is not expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday, while defenceman Philip Kemp was also on the ice after getting recalled from the AHL's Bakersfield Condors on Monday.
Stuart Skinner is expected to start vs. the Blackhawks and is 12-2-0 in his last 14 games.
