It&#8217;s been an eventful couple of days in Oil Country.

The Edmonton Oilers hosted the Florida Panthers on Monday night for the first meeting between the two teams since the Stanley Cup Final back in June. The game saw multiple lead changes and the visiting team escaped with a 6-5 win.
Zach Hyman was absent from the team&#8217;s practice on Tuesday after taking a shot from Evan Bouchard to the face in the loss to Florida. The gritty winger was leaking blood as he left the ice and he returned for the latter part of the game with a full bubble mask on his helmet rather than a visor.
Head coach <a href="https://x.com/DNBsports/status/1869124512312426684">Kris Knoblauch said</a> after practice that Hyman suffered a broken nose but he&#8217;s expected to play on Thursday when the Oilers host the Boston Bruins.
Without Hyman available, Viktor Arvidsson jumped into his regular spot on Edmonton&#8217;s top forward line alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Arvidsson hasn&#8217;t played since November 12 because of an undisclosed injury. Through 16 games in his first season with the Oilers, the skilled winger has two goals and five points.
It&#8217;s possible that Arvidsson will return to the lineup on Thursday against Boston, <a href="https://x.com/DNBsports/status/1869124514602508519">according to Knobluach</a>. The expectation is that he&#8217;ll be ready to play before the NHL&#8217;s holiday break begins next week. After playing the Bruins, the Oilers will host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday and the Ottawa Senators on Sunday before having five days off. They&#8217;ll return to action the following weekend with road games against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.
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&quot;He can possibly play on Thursday. This is his first real practice… he&#39;s had a couple morning skates &amp; he&#39;s been skating on his own… We&#39;ll see how he&#39;s feeling.&quot;
Coach Koblauch on Viktor Arvidsson returning to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oilers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oilers</a> lineup.<a href="https://twitter.com/Enterprise?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Enterprise</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LetsGoOilers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LetsGoOilers</a> <a href="https://t.co/AYjmV0tdMN">pic.twitter.com/AYjmV0tdMN</a>
&mdash; Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) <a href="https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1869119582235201686?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Arvidsson was playing with Leon Draisaitl on Edmonton&#8217;s second line before landing on the Injured Reserve but it seems likely he&#8217;ll play in the bottom-six when he returns. Knoblauch said he likes the way his top two lines have been playing and that he wants more offence from the third and fourth lines.
The Oilers also got a little bit of a scare at practice on Tuesday when Connor McDavid and Darnell Nurse collided. The captain left the ice and didn&#8217;t return but it seems he&#8217;ll be fine.
<blockquote>“I haven&#8217;t talked to (head therapist) T.D. (Forss), but I think he’s doing all right,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/DNBsports/status/1869124509409882171">Knoblauch said of McDavid</a>. &#8220;If he wasn’t, I’m sure I would have gotten an update right away.”</blockquote>

It's been an eventful couple of days in Oil Country.



The Edmonton Oilers hosted the Florida Panthers on Monday night for the first meeting between the two teams since the Stanley Cup Final back in June. The game saw multiple lead changes and the visiting team escaped with a 6-5 win.

Zach Hyman was absent from the team's practice on Tuesday after taking a shot from Evan Bouchard to the face in the loss to Florida. The gritty winger was leaking blood as he left the ice and he returned for the latter part of the game with a full bubble mask on his helmet rather than a visor.

Head coach <a href="https://x.com/DNBsports/status/1869124512312426684">Kris Knoblauch said</a> after practice that Hyman suffered a broken nose but he's expected to play on Thursday when the Oilers host the Boston Bruins.

Without Hyman available, Viktor Arvidsson jumped into his regular spot on Edmonton's top forward line alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Arvidsson hasn't played since November 12 because of an undisclosed injury. Through 16 games in his first season with the Oilers, the skilled winger has two goals and five points.

It's possible that Arvidsson will return to the lineup on Thursday against Boston, <a href="https://x.com/DNBsports/status/1869124514602508519">according to Knobluach</a>. The expectation is that he'll be ready to play before the NHL's holiday break begins next week. After playing the Bruins, the Oilers will host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday and the Ottawa Senators on Sunday before having five days off. They'll return to action the following weekend with road games against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.

https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1869119582235201686

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Arvidsson was playing with Leon Draisaitl on Edmonton's second line before landing on the Injured Reserve but it seems likely he'll play in the bottom-six when he returns. Knoblauch said he likes the way his top two lines have been playing and that he wants more offence from the third and fourth lines.

The Oilers also got a little bit of a scare at practice on Tuesday when Connor McDavid and Darnell Nurse collided. The captain left the ice and didn't return but it seems he'll be fine.
<blockquote>“I haven't talked to (head therapist) T.D. (Forss), but I think he’s doing all right," <a href="https://x.com/DNBsports/status/1869124509409882171">Knoblauch said of McDavid</a>. "If he wasn’t, I’m sure I would have gotten an update right away.”</blockquote>

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