So, will Leon Draisaitl or Jason Dickinson be in the Edmonton Oilers Game 1 lineup?

We won’t know right until warmups. Lineups will be more closely guarded now that the playoffs have begun, as the Oilers face the Anaheim Ducks for the first time since 2016-17.

“We’re not going to announce who’s playing and exactly what their lines are going to be,” said Knoblauch on Monday morning. “You’ll have to wait and find out what our lineup looks like tonight.”

The team practiced on Sunday as if the two centremen were going to be playing, both in full-contract white jerseys. The one change with Dickinson’s return on Sunday meant that Adam Henrique dropped from third-line left wing to fourth-line centre. That dropped Josh Samanski to the fifth line.

If only one of the two were to play, it would stand to reason that Curtis Lazar is the first player to be scratched, as he was the 13th forward at Friday’s practice, when Draisaitl was a full participant, but Dickinson wasn’t.

Matthew Savoie – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman

Vasily Podkolzin – Leon Draisaitl – Kasperi Kapanen

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jason Dickinson – Jack Roslovic

Colton Dach – Adam Henrique – Trent Frederic

Mattias Ekholm – Evan Bouchard

Darnell Nurse – Connor Murphy

Jake Walman – Ty Emberson

Connor Ingram

Henrique has another thing going for him that makes him an asset for a coach: lots of playoff experience. Compared to rookie Josh Samanski, the 36-year-old has played 67 playoff games, as he’s about the face his former team.

Henrique is the only player in this series who played in the 2018 playoffs for Anaheim, the last time the Ducks were playoff bound. He knows what the playoffs is all about.

“It’s the focus on one team, one group, how they like to play, what they like to do, and like I said, the tendencies of each guy,” said Henrique about playoff preparation.

“They have some young kids that haven’t played in the playoffs. They got some good veteran players that have, and gone a lot of deep runs too. For us, I think it’s just a lot of focus on ourselves and get into our game.”

It’s a series of collective playoff experience vs individual playoff experience. The Oilers have been to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, while the Ducks have the three players in this series in Alex Killorn, John Carlson, and Chris Kreider who’ve played the most playoff games.

The Oilers leader in playoff games played is Mattias Ekholm with 119. He said he thinks this Oilers team could be poised for another deep run after surviving the regular season.

“Especially when you have two deep runs…it’s hard to get up for every game,” he admitted. “I think we’re prepared. I think we know the recipe that we need to put out there to be successful. Obviously, we want some scoring as well. But I do think that for us, it starts on the defensive side.”

Zach Hyman returned in the regular season finale against Vancouver after missing four games with an undisclosed injury. He collected an assist in 18:11 of work. Hyman’s loss in last year’s playoffs was a critical factor in the Oilers’ eventual loss to the Florida Panthers.

After another productive season, albeit in just 58 games, Hyman likes how his team has battled.

“I think we’re very good at facing adversity and our backs are against the wall. In those ten games, we didn’t have a playoff spot, we didn’t have home ice secured,” said Hyman. “It was time to really dial in things and play the standard that we’ve wanted to for an entire season.”

Chris Kreider – Leo Carlsson – Troy Terry

Alex Killorn – Mikael Granlund– Beckett Sennecke

Mason McTavish – Ryan Poehling– Cutter Gauthier

Jeffrey Veil – Tim Washe – Ian Moore

Jackson LaCombe – Jacob Trouba

Pavel Mintyukov – John Carlson

Tyson Hinds – Radko Gudas

Lukas Dostal

These lines were confirmed by Ducks beat reporter Zach Cavanagh this morning. Troy Terry did not take morning skate, as Frank Vatrano took his spot, but that’s been the norm for a couple of weeks. Coach Joel Quenneville confirmed Terry will play.

The Anaheim Ducks lineup is a spread-out group, a mix of youth paired with veterans throughout their lineup. Nowhere is that more evident than with their leading 41-goal man in Cutter Gauthier on the third-line right-wing.

Alex Killorn, a vet of 140 playoff games and a two-time Stanley Cup champion, will be leaned on for his knowledge. But it’s been a couple of seasons for him, too.

“The first playoff game, guys are going to be running around with intensity, even just keeping the emotions under wraps for a lot of these guys have never done it before,” he said on Monday. 

To the other extreme, is a player like Beckett Sennecke. The frosh-faced 19-year-old finished second in rookie scoring with 60 points, and he’s trying to soak up as much as he can before puckdrop.

“Everyone’s super excited, especially in Game 1,” said Sennecke. And then get physical. Every little detail, they said, can change a game, can change a series, so it’s just making sure that you’re playing 100% and managing the puck properly.”

Quenneville said he’s excited to find out about his team and how they’ll respond to the challenge of playing the Oilers.

“If you want to win, you’ve got to play without the puck,” he said. “You’ve got to check and you’ve got to make sure that you prioritize that, especially against a team that can score and has a lethal power play. So, let’s go make sure we avoid taking unnecessary or careless penalties. But we’ve got to play well with the puck as well and manage it as best we can, too.”

It doesn’t appear that Ross Johnston will play. The 6-foot-5, 232 lb depth forward hasn’t played in 17 games. Radko Gudas missed time down the stretch following a five-game suspension for kneeing Auston Matthews, then injury. He sat out the last two regular season games, but is expected in.

Lukas Dostal will get the start between the pipes.

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