Ekholm could play for Oilers if you reach the final of the Western Conference

Edmonton – Mattias Ekholm could play for the Edmonton Oilers if you can come past the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the Western Conference, said coach KRIS KNOBLAUS on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old defender has played a game since March 26. He returned from an absence of seven games on April 11 due to an unknown injury to the San Jose Sharks, but he left the line -up again after playing a total of 1:52 of the ice age. Ekholm exposed itself in the last three games of the regular season and missed all 10 Edmontons Stanley Cup Playoff games because of an undisclosed injury.

“Mattias was on the ice for light ice skates,” said Knoblauch. “He will not agree with this series. We are confident that he can join us in the next series if we can get to it.”

Edmonton leads Vegas 3-1 in the best-of-7 series and can start for the third time in four seasons to the final of the Western Conference in game 5 in the T-Mobilile Arena in Las Vegas on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

The Oilers pushed the golden knights with a 3-0 victory in game 4 at Rogers Place on Monday to the edge of the excretion. If necessary, game 6 will take place in Edmonton on Friday.

“I don't think we can see how many games in the series are left. It is a one-game mentality,” said Knoblauch. “When we lost the game 3 (4-3 on Saturday), it was forgotten that we will go over to the next.”

Edmonton took control of the series against Vegas by winning the first two games on the street. It lost game 3 with a Summtor, but jumped back with the shutout victory in game 4.

The Oilers do not want the series to extend to a sixth game and want to complete them on the first attempt.

They could do that in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings and eliminated them on the first attempt in game 6. It is also what Edmonton did in his three series winners last year against the Dallas Stars in the final of the Western Conference (six games), the Vancouver Canucks in the second round (seven games) and the Kings in the first round) and in the first round (five games).

“Obviously there are many advantages to win the next game,” said Knoblauch. “Firstly, they do not give Vegas this opportunity to put together a number of victories, and then the ability to only have downtime, people can rest and not add.

“You know, the bumps and bruises through the playoff season as possible, boys are beaten and it is a physical game that we spoke, but I think that's an additional advantage.”

Additional days before the start of the next round, Ekholm would benefit, who had 33 points (nine goals, 24 templates) in 65 games. He was a large part of Edmonton's run to the Stanley Cup final last year and scored 10 points (five goals, five templates) in 25 playoff games and scored an average of 21:58 ICE time.

In the absence of Ekholm, the Oilers from the defender Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard, Brett Kulak, Jake Walman, John Klingberg, Ty Emberson and Troy Stecher, who were used in the first 10 games of the off -season.

Stecher replaced Emberson in the line-up for game 4. In his first game in this post-season, he was a plus-1 in 16:46 Ice Time.

Walman was also solid. He was a plus-1 in 4:30 p.m. Ice Time in game 4 and in 10 post-season games he recorded two points (one goal, an assist) and a plus-13 rating, while reaching an average of 20:04 ICE time.

This achievement was a continuation of the regular season when the 29-year-old had eight points (one goal, seven templates) in 15 games of the regular season after he was purchased on March 7 in a trade with the San Jose Sharks.

“We wanted someone who fits our team,” said Knoblauch. “Our team, we are good at moving the puck, and we have some insulting players, and we don't want to be chip and chase from the glass and follow it.

Walman also gave Edmonton a strong defensive presence that Ekholm normally offers. He has 28 blocked shots in this post -season, most of them for the Oilers.

“An unexpected thing that we learned about him is his competitive side and how many blocked shots he had, so he did a lot of good things for our team,” said Knoblauch. “I don't think we would be in this position if we hadn't added a man to our defense like Walman and Klingberg, especially if we miss Ekholm during this time.”