Ahead of tonight’s Game 7 of the second round of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoff series, showcasing the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks live from Rogers Arena, let’s discuss what’s going to unfold. The Oilers have the third best winning percentage all-time in Game 7’s (7-4 for a .636 Win%, with a minimum five games played). One question for the Edmonton Oilers is the health of Adam Henrique. For the Canucks, it is a wonder if they will be able to awake from their 15 shot, 5-1 performance in Game 6 of the series. We all remember some classic Game 7’s their franchise has been involved in from the Stanley Cup finals either in 2011 versus the Boston Bruins or 1994 against the New York Rangers. Could a win here, tonight spell a change in the franchise’s fortunes?
How About the Oilers Lineup for Game 7 vs the Canucks
For Kris Knoblauch’s Edmonton Oilers team, Adam Henrique draws out for the team. Henrique played the entire series against the Los Angeles Kings, but only got in the lineup for Game 2 of this series against the Canucks. Therefore, the Oilers have been able to fill his spot just fine. Connor Brown has done great in the playoffs being a reliable depth player. He has one assists in five games, and hasn’t been on for a goal against in 8:56 a game.
Notable Edmonton Oiler Lineup News Ahead of their Most Important Game of Season
The Depth Forwards Need to Chip-in Efficiently
In the Oilers goal, will again be their starter, Stuart Skinner. Skinner understands this group’s goals, so it should be his job to lose. He’s played solid in the playoffs with a 6-3 record, but his stats are not favourable. His 2.97 GAA and .881 SV% shows a potential weakness of the Oilers. However, it is most likely a trick, as they want to get into a shootout with you. There is a bit of a drop-off, but the Oilers top five scorers, have 88 points through 11 games this post-season. If we have a wild, wild west showdown, the Oilers are perfectly fine with that outcome. Look for Evander Kane to be a deal breaker tonight for the Oilers in the huge Game 7 ahead.
The Canucks Lineup Notes for the Oilers Game 7 Clash
For the Canucks, what about their goaltending? Arturs Silovs has done incredible, and showed himself to be a big game performer. Thatcher Demko remains unavailable for the club. Moreover, Silovs has the numbers to support the coach’s repeated decision to have faith in him. He has a 2.89 GAA and a .898 SV% with a 5-4 record this post-season. This is shaping up to be a great matchup all-around.
The Canucks will have to deal with Brock Boeser out of the lineup. The announcement was also made today that Boeser is done for the season even if the Canucks advance. One player who needs to step up in his absence is Elias Pettersson. It will be imteresting to see if he can get going in the biggest game of the season thus far. Furthermore, Pettersson had 34 goals and 55 assists for 89 points in the regular season. So, it is not easy to contain him. In contrast, he has only taken 20 shots and only one playoff goal. That’s not enough production from one of the club’s best players, and luckily he has five assists through 12 games to help balance out his play. He plays 18:43 a night in the playoffs, has collected 23 hits, and a CF% Rel of 15.3. This means he is generating offence.
However, he, like many of his Canuck teammates, are too concerned with trying to create perfect plays off of offensive zone possession passing it around the outside. Unless they use their home crowd to their advantage, and make dynamic plays to the net, it will be Edmonton advancing, and not them. One final note on their lineup is Nils Hoglander will play, but Vasily Podkolzin is out. Buckle up for tonight’s action, live from Vancouver, British Columbia, on this Holiday Victoria Day Weekend in the Great White North Canada. The action gets started at 6 PM local time. The winner of tonight’s game will take on the Dallas Stars in the 2024 Western Conference finals.
Main photo credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
