Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Uncertain For Game 3

The Oilers may be down a crucial top-six forward as the Stanley Cup Final shifts to Florida. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be a game-time decision for Monday’s Game 3 due to an undisclosed injury after missing Sunday’s practice session, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters (including Tony Brar of Oilers TV).

Nugent-Hopkins didn’t miss a shift in Game 2’s double-overtime loss and didn’t miss a game due to a non-illness-related injury all season long. He’s routinely been starting games on the wing with Connor McDavid and Corey Perry, but he’s also alternated with Leon Draisaitl as the club’s second-line center. When shifted to Draisaitl’s spot between Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen later in Game 2, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal relays that Kane was taking faceoffs instead of Nugent-Hopkins, pointing to a speculative upper-body issue.

On the heels of an underwhelming regular season, Nugent-Hopkins has turned up the heat in the postseason. The 32-year-old is operating at a point per game with a 5-13–18 scoring line despite being held off the scoresheet in his last three appearances. He was especially dominant in Edmonton’s Western Conference Final victory over the Stars, posting a 2-7–9 scoring line in Games 1 through 4.

A potential Nugent-Hopkins absence with a 2-1 series lead on the line is exacerbated by the unavailability of usual Connor McDavid/RNH linemate Zach Hyman, who sustained a serious wrist injury in the Dallas series and is done for the year. While depth pieces like Kapanen and Perry have far exceeded expectations when elevated into top-six roles this postseason, there’s rightful concern about eating too deep into their depth in a seven-game series against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Jeff Skinner, a healthy scratch for all but two games in these playoffs, took line rushes in today’s practice in Nugent-Hopkins’ place alongside McDavid and Perry and will presumably enter the lineup if RNH can’t go. In his first career postseason action, the veteran of nearly 1,100 regular-season games has a goal and an assist over his pair of appearances.