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The availability of otherwise of Evander Kane has been a developing story as Edmonton Oilers get set to open their first round series against Los Angeles Kings.
Kane missed the last 3 games of the regular season, then remained absent for Saturday’s practice. Finally some good news on Sunday morning as the Oil took to the ice for final full practice session, as Kane was among the early participants on the powerplay unit:
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The full lines took to the ice minutes later with an intriguing twist:
Kane back on the ice, Mattias Janmark also back after missing Saturday, and Dylan Holloway still listed in the top 12. The odd men out appear to be checking/penalty-killing forwards Derek Ryan and Connor Brown, both skating on the dreaded “fifth line” with reserve Sam Gagner.
There are still plenty of questions. Kane on the fourth line with pluggers Sam Carrick and Janmark doesn’t seem to be the ideal fit, and it may well be that those bottom two lines are fluid. That said, if Kane were at full health it’s hard to envision him outside the top nine.
Odd to see Brown among the extras after a strong closing run that saw him post 4-3-7, all at even strength, in his final 17 games while continuing to contribute on the penalty kill. By eye he was skating better and more freely than he had all season.
Nonetheless, it’s good news for Holloway that he remains listed on the third line with fellow speedster Ryan McLeod and savvy vet Corey Perry. Holloway had an impressive closing run to the season after being called up with 10 days remaining, playing all 6 games down the hectic closing stretch and delivering 3-2-5, +2 with 14 shots and 24 hits This after producing just 4 points in 32 games earlier in the season.
Holloway did have a couple of coverage issues that led to key goals against in tight losses to Arizona and Vancouver. Those had many observers including this one speculating that the youngster might be on the outside looking in come Game 1. But here we are at D-Day -1 and he remains in a very good spot on practice ice as well. We’ll see if he remains there come puck drop Monday.
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