Win or lose, the Edmonton Oilers are always interesting. Such is the case for their game tonight against the Dallas Stars.
The Oilers will also be without center Boyd Gordon. He’s their top defensive center and not having him to help wrangle Jamie Benn and the Stars puts them at a disadvantage as Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal shares.
“It’s going to be a huge loss. Boyd has been our best penalty killer. He takes critical faceoffs . . . he’s one of the top faceoff guys in the league. A guy we rely on heavily,” said head coach Dallas Eakins. “That’s going to be a big hole to fill and it’s going to have to be filled by the group.”
Will Acton will take Gordon’s spot in the lineup and likely play the fourth line.
The Oilers will start Ilya Bryzgalov for the third game in a row. He’s gotten the call in each game of their three-game road trip that wraps up tonight. He earned a 3-0 shutout victory against the Nashville Predators on Thursday but was chased out after giving up four goals in two periods in their 4-2 loss to Columbus on Friday night.