Oilers hope impending return of injured players will boost lineup

The Edmonton Oilers are back in town for their first home game in more than two weeks.

Connor McDavid is glad to be home.

The star Edmonton Oilers captain called the team’s recent journey through the eastern U.S. “a tough trip,” though they managed to post a .500 record during it to stay within striking distance of the National Hockey League playoff picture.

“These last couple of weeks have definitely been the bulk of our schedule in terms of the grind,” McDavid told media after practice at Edmonton’s Downtown Community Arena on Monday. “A lot of games, a lot of cities. The bulk of it is done on the road, honestly, which is weird to say so early, but we’re looking forward to finding our best game here.”

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The travel schedule has indeed been heavy for the Oilers, who’ve played two-thirds of their schedule so far this season away from Rogers Place, their home arena.

The Oilers finished the recent seven-game road swing with a win in Sunrise, Fla., over the Florida Panthers in a Stanley Cup rematch, snapping a three-game losing skid, leaving them with a 10-9-5 record and in a position eerily similar to one they’ve been in the last two seasons as well: not in a playoff position as U.S. Thanksgiving nears.

Turkey Day south of the border is used as a general measure of who will make the NHL post-season and who won’t. The Oilers bucked the odds the last two seasons by roaring back from being outside a playoff position well into it.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said he’s looking for improved play by his team, which beat the Panthers 6-3 two days after giving up a late lead only to lose 2-1 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“We’ve got to start winning some more games and getting some traction and not win one, lose one, that kind of thing,” Knoblauch said. “We need to start winning three or four in a row and then losing one, getting in more of that rhythm.”

Both Knoblauch and McDavid said the prospects of getting injured players back into the lineup soon should help bolster their chances of climbing the standings. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the oft top-line winger who along with fellow forward Kasperi Kapanen missed the road trip while recovering from ailments, said he could return to the Oilers’ lineup as soon as Tuesday against the Dallas Stars (7 p.m.) in the team’s first home game since their return. Knoblauch said Kapanen could play as soon as Saturday’s matinee against the host Seattle Kraken.

“We haven’t really played with a full deck all year,” McDavid said. “I’m looking forward to getting everybody back healthy. That’s kind of rare, but it’s looking like we could be that way in a little bit.”

Winger Zach Hyman, who returned to the Oilers’ lineup from injury during the eastern trip, said given the condensed nature of this season’s schedule because of the Winter Olympics break coming in less than three months, the team is “in a pretty good spot.”

“We’re going to get guys back and get to see what our roster looks like healthy,” he said. “We haven’t had a healthy roster all year, so I think from that standpoint, that’ll be good just to get the full group back. I think we’re starting to build our team game.

“This trip was tough. We played against very good opponents and were able to come out of it even.”

Following Saturday’s game in Seattle, the Oilers start a five-game homestand on Dec. 2 against the Minnesota Wild.