Oilers’ Evander Kane benched in third period of Game 6 for injury reasons

Though the Edmonton Oilers won Game 6 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, they did so without Evander Kane for much of the final 40 minutes.

The forward was injured in the first period after delivering a body check on Stars’ Alex Petrovic and briefly went to the locker room. He did end up returning, but played just 4:39 in total, and did not take a single shift in the third period, despite remaining on the bench.

After the game, head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed that Kane’s lack of ice time was injury-related, but the bench boss remains optimistic that some rest time will do the forward some good.

Thankfully for Kane and the Oilers, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for June 8, giving the team a full five days to rest before returning to game action.

Kane, 32, scored 24 goals and 44 points this season — his third with the Oilers. In 18 playoff games, he added four goals and 8 points.