The Edmonton Oilers could be without Mattias Janmark Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks after the winger crashed hard into the boards Wednesday night.
It happened just under eight minutes into the third period of the Oilers’ game against the Vegas Golden Knights. He was skating through the neutral zone towards the Vegas blue line, and after passing forward towards Vasily Podkolzin, he got hit hard by Pavel Dorofeyev.
Janmark fell sideways onto the ice, hitting the boards with his lower back. He would head right down the Oilers tunnel, and while he would take one more shift, it lasted just 10 seconds.
EDM VGK G14. November 6, 2024. Mattias Janmark hurt. 🎥: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/mdoqlGLqun
— Nation Network Media (@NationNMedia) November 7, 2024
After a skate Thursday, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Janmark was considered day-to-day, with his status for Saturday’s game up in the air.
“It depends on if he’s available, and we’ll have a better idea on Friday,” he said. “Definitely Saturday morning and we have the luxury of having our (AHL) team closeby, and we can find a player easily.”
Janmark has skated in all 14 of the Oilers’ games this year, scoring one goal and three points.
The Oilers AHL affiliate Bakersfield Condors are in the midst of a Western Canadian road trip, splitting two games with the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate Calgary Wranglers. The Condors are set to square up Saturday and Sunday night with Vancouver Canucks’ AHL affiliate Abbotsford Canucks.
Bakersfield, however, are dealing with injuries of their own. James Hamblin, Lane Pederson, while newcomer Roby Jarventie missed Wednesday’s game with injury, days after debuting his team, still working his way back from injury. Matt Savoie, meanwhile, was shaken up after blocking a shot late in that game, but Condors play-by-play man Ryan Holt said the “Condors got lucky here it looks like.”
Drake Caggiula and Noah Philp returned to Bakersfield to add some depth, but they are a team fighting the injury bug.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
