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Scenes from morning skate in Florida: Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final

Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup Finals
Photo credit:Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
Liam Horrobin
25 days ago
Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final gets underway tonight in Sunrise, Florida, with the host Panthers holding a 1-0 lead in the series over the Edmonton Oilers.
Game 1 finished 3-0 to Florida after a stellar performance between the pipes from Sergei Bobrovsky. The Russian shot-stopper finished with a 32-save shutout, his second of the playoffs, and got run support from Carter Verhagae, Evan Rodrigues and Eetu Luostarinen.
The puck drops at 6:00 p.m MST at Amerest Bank Arena.

The Lineup

A common trend throughout the season has been Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci playing together on the Oilers second pairing. Head coach Kris Knoblauch moved away from it for the most part in the Western Conference Final againt Dallas, however, for Game 1 versus the Panthers, the duo was reunited. Unfortunately for Knoblauch and the Oilers, the same problems occurred with Nurse and Ceci on the ice for the first two goals against. Granted, they weren’t the only players at fault but the issue still remains.
Today’s morning skate suggested that the Oilers are moving away from that duo again, and inserting Vincent Desharnais back into the lineup. With Descharnais now playing alongside Nurse, Ceci could be the odd man for the first time this postseason. The other two pairings of Mattias Ekholm/Evan Bouchard and Philip Broberg/Brett Kulak will stay intact.
“It’s exciting to play in the Stanley Cup Final,” said Desharnais ahead of Game 2. “I was ready the last four games to play and now tonight I’ll be in, I’ll be ready, and I’ll do my job.”
“Everyone that has stood in has stepped up,” said Darnell Nurse on the lineup changes Kris Knoblauch has made. “For Ceci, he’s such a big part of this group and a reason why he are here. That confidence can’t waiver because we are going to need him again.”
Up front, Evander Kane didn’t skate this morning but he confirmed that he’ll play tonight. Kane suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 6 versus the Dallas Stars and skated in limited practices heading into the Florida series. On Saturday night, he played 15:22 and didn’t register a shot but finished with two hits.
Adam Henrique made his way back into the top six during the skate alongside Leon Draisaitl and Dylan Holloway. Additionally, Sam Carrick checked back in between Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown on the fourth line, however, he’ll be a game-time decision.
Forwards
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman
Adam Henrique – Leon Draisaitl – Dylan Holloway
Warren Foegele – Ryan McLeod – Corey Perry
Mattias Janmark – Sam Carrick – Connor Brown
Defence
Mattias Ekholm – Evan Bouchard
Philip Broberg – Brett Kulak
Darnell Nurse – Vincent Descharnais
Stuart Skinner

The Opposition

After taking Game 1 3-0, unsurprisingly Paul Maurice won’t make any lineup changes for Game 2.
Gustav Forsling played a team-high 25:31 minutes finishing plus two on the night but didn’t register a point. His partner Aaron Ekblad was right behind him playing slightly over 25 minutes. Offensively, Aleksander Barkov lead the way with two assists coming on the Verhaeghe and Luostarinen empty netter.
The star of the show was Bobrovosky who stopped at 32 shots he faced. Tonight, he’ll be the biggest obstacle the Oilers have to overcome.

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