Corey Perry skates on Oilers’ third line ahead of Saturday debut
By Zach Laing
6 months agoIt’s Corey Perry season in Edmonton.
On Thursday, days after signing a one-year contract through the remainder of the Oilers’ season, he skated on the team’s third line alongside Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway, as noted by team reporter Tony Brar, ready to make his debut Saturday against the Nashville Predators.
The Oilers’ other lines remained intact, with the only other change being Connor Brown and Sam Gagner rotating on the club’s fourth line.
Perry on the third line makes sense as a spot for him to get acquainted with the team, and playing alongside McLeod — who has had a strong season thus far — with Holloway, who has shined in his three games returning from injury, is a great mix. Both McLeod and Holloway will offer great speed to that line, while Perry’s penchant for the net could all of a sudden become a line that could score some goals for this team.
It’s not like the team would need much, given the potency of the Oilers’ top-six, but the more scoring, the merrier. I could see this trio easily becoming one that can chip in a goal or two every few games, and that’s going to be a big help for Edmonton.
Having rotated their lines for Thursday’s game against the Blackhawks, head coach Kris Knoblauch was a fan of how things looked.
“I liked them. The McDavid line got three goals tonight. I think for the most part of the game, certainly the first half of the game, Nugent-Hopkins’ line was probably the best. Now we’ve got some decisions on what happens next. We talked about the addition of Corey, possibly Saturday, and we’ll decide what we’re going to do there, whether he plays Saturday if we feel he’s ready. We’ll decide that tomorrow after practice. I thought the lines were good, no need to change things up dramatically.”
We’ve seen the Oilers dominate the Nashville Predators in the past, namely thanks to performances from guys like Draisaitl, with 16 goals and 27 points in his last 10 games against them, while his linemate McDavid has six goals and 24 points over that same stretch.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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