Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch shared a concerning update on defenseman Mattias Ekholm’s availability for Round 2 of the playoffs against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Oilers advanced to the second round after defeating the LA Kings in six games on Thursday. Ekholm missed the entire Kings series due to an undisclosed injury sustained late in the regular season.
Despite earlier hopes of his return, Knoblauch indicated that Ekholm’s status for the Golden Knights series remains doubtful, suggesting he may need more time to recover.
(3:02 onwards)
“Mattias right now is doubtful for the second round. I think it’s still going to be a little bit longer,” Knonlauch said post-game.
Mattias Ekholm racked up 33 points through nine goals and 24 assists, posting a plus-11 in 65 regular-season games. He clocked 22:12 minutes of ice time.
Kris Knoblauch opens up about tactical change for Oilers’ Round 2 challenge against the Golden Knights
Kris Knoblauch shared his thoughts about the upcoming Round 2 series against the Vegas Golden Knights. He noted that Vegas’ system presents a unique challenge, different from the Kings, who had an impressive record in the latter half of the regular season.
The Oilers coach acknowledged the difficulty of the Kings series but emphasized that tactics effective against LA may not work against the Knights.
“For the series against Vegas, obviously, they play quite a bit different style than LA with their systems and the type of personnel they have. It’s going to give us a whole new challenge, and I don’t want to undersell LA,” Knoblauch said (from 3:15 onwards).
“They’re a good team, and they had the best record in the second half of the season. It wasn’t easy by any means, but the way we approach the two systems, it’s going to give us a different challenge. We’re going to have to change some things up. Things that were successful against LA might not be successful against Vegas,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights advanced to the second round of the playoffs after eliminating the Minnesota Wild in six games. In the Edmonton-Vegas last playoff series in 2023, the Golden Knights defeated the Oilers in six games during the second round and went on to win the Stanley Cup.
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Edited by Abhishek Dilta
