EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers will have veteran forward Adam Henrique back in the lineup for Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against the Dallas Stars. Henrique’s return comes after missing the last seven games with a lower-body injury.
“I want to be a difference-maker for the team,” he said.
Henrique got hurt at the end of Edmonton’s first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, sat out the opener of Round 2 matchup against the Vancouver Canucks, came back for Game 2 but has been sidelined again ever since.
He has a goal and two points in six postseason games for the Oilers.
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“When Adam was available and we felt that he was 100 percent, then we wanted him in the lineup,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “He’s a very important player for us. He can kill penalties, he can be on the power play and he’s a really good five-on-five player.
“There were games where we could have put him in. I would say he was very close – maybe not 100 percent. But I’m sure if it was the Stanley Cup Final Game 7, we would have had him in earlier.”
Henrique is expected to start Monday’s game at center. Knoblauch said pivot Ryan McLeod will be scratched to make room for Henrique.
McLeod is pointless with a minus-5 rating while appearing in all of Edmonton’s 14 playoff games.
“Absolutely, it’s a reset,” Knoblauch said. “Clouder’s going to be part of his team. We’re going to see him sooner than later.
“There’s a lot to like about his game. A lot of it is from the penalty kill. He’s been contributing a lot there with his quickness, his reads. Five-on-five, he hasn’t been playing quite like he had been, especially in the middle part of the season – in January and February. That was his top performance.”
Henrique, 34, was the biggest acquisition the Oilers made before the trade deadline in March. The Oilers sent a package that included a 2024 first-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for Henrique and fellow forward Sam Carrick. Both players had salaries retained in the deal.
Stars’ Hintz a game-time decision
Stars No. 1 center Roope Hintz will be a game-time decision for a second straight game, according to coach Pete DeBoer. Hintz hasn’t played since suffering an apparent hand/wrist injury during Game 4 of the Stars’ second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Stars have managed well enough without Hintz, but as DeBoer said earlier in the series, imagine what the Oilers would look like if you took Connor McDavid, their No. 1 center, out of the lineup. Hintz is a terrific two-way center who posted 30 goals and 65 points this season.
“It helps everybody,” DeBoer said of Hintz’s possible return. “It helps any line he’s playing on and any special teams he’s on.”
Hintz also kills penalties and plays on the top power-play unit. The Stars are 0-for-6 against Edmonton’s red-hot penalty kill, so they’re eager to get him back. And DeBoer might have tipped his hand about which way he’s leaning tonight when addressing it.
“We feel like if we execute at the level we’re capable of executing, and Roope is back in the lineup, we’re going to get our looks,” DeBoer said.
For what it’s worth, Hintz came off the ice with the regulars after the Stars’ morning skate. Typically, a scratch stays on the ice longer, as Hintz did before Game 2.
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(Photo: Perry Nelson/ USA Today)
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