After the game, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch tried to play coy but hinted at a potential extended absence for the veteran centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got tied up there in front of the net, and obviously wasn\u2019t eligible to come back,\u201d said Knoblauch. \u201cWe\u2019ll find out tomorrow exactly how long that injury is.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a big hole missing Rico. He\u2019s been so good on our special teams, and we\u2019re going to have to have some other guys step up if we are to lose him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henrique played in just two minutes and 56 seconds in Game 1, taking one shot on goal, and going one-for-two in the faceoff circle.<\/p>\n
The Oilers will have a pair of options to fill his spot as the fourth-line centre: Josh Samanski and Curtis Lazar.<\/p>\n
Samanski is the most likely to draw back into the lineup, considering the time he spent with Colton Dach and Trent Frederic down the stretch run of the season. They played just over 40 minutes at five-on-five this season, controlling 54 per cent of the shot attempt share, 62.5 per cent of the expected goal share, and 55.6 per cent of the high-danger scoring chance share. More impressively, however, is the fact they\u2019ve outscored the opposition 3-1.\u00a0It\u2019s a small sample size, of course, but there was some chemistry from the trio.<\/p>\n
Lazar is also an option to draw into the lineup, and could give the Oilers a new look as a right-shot centre. Nonetheless, Knoblauch said that an update on Henrique would be available Tuesday, so time will tell how long the Oilers could be without him.<\/p>\n
Zach Laing is Oilersnation\u2019s managing editor, and The Nation Network\u2019s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report<\/a>. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing<\/a>, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.OIL UP: THE OILERSNATION PLAYOFF COLLECTION IS HERE![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776763508_258_image.png\"\/)
<\/a>Edmonton, the playoffs are calling\u2014and it\u2019s time to answer. We are so back, and Oilersnation is ready with the OIL UP playoff collection, available now. From tees and hoodies to hats built for every game-day fit, this drop has everything you need all postseason long. Whether you\u2019re heading to a watch party, the rink, or setting up camp in front of the TV, consider this your official playoff uniform. Don\u2019t wait\u2014gear up before puck drop. Shop the full collection now at nationgear.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s going to be a big hole\u2019: Knoblauch hints at extended absence for Oilers\u2019 Henrique after Game 1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-618506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}