Oilers’ Kris Knoblauch making key change for another do-or-die Game 6 vs. Ducks

The Edmonton Oilers faced elimination against the Anaheim Ducks in Game 5 on Tuesday. They started Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl together, and the team scored three goals in the first 10:13 of the game. Kris Knoblauch is going right back to the well for a do-or-die Game 6 on the road, he tells Gerry Moddejonge of NHL.com.

“McDavid and Draisaitl have always been good (together),” Knoblauch said, per Moddejonge. “This year, they have not been outscoring (the opposition) like they usually have. Just a lot of it may be luck, or things just not going their way, whatever it is they just haven’t been able to outscore.”

“But there is definitely some chemistry, and going into an elimination game where we need to change our fate, we ultimately felt we were going to put the game in our two best players’ hands and let them dictate where this game is going to go,” Knoblauch continued.

McDavid is nursing a lower-body injury and was a game-time decision for Game 5. He notched two assists, both scored by Draisaitl, in the elimination game at home. If they can pull off another win on Thursday, they’ll have the home crowd on their side for Game 7.

The Oilers have won the Western Conference in consecutive seasons, only facing elimination once before the Stanley Cup Final. Now, they need to win three straight games just to make the second round. This was not a great season for the Oilers, and the goaltending has not improved in the postseason. But putting McDavid and Draisaitl together is a superpower no other team can match.

The decision everyone in Edmonton is waiting for is the Oilers’ goaltender for Game 6. Connor Ingram backstopped them to a win in Game 5, but Tristan Jarry was solid in Game 4 on the road. Who will be in the net?

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