Down two games to one in their second round series against the Vancouver Canucks, the Edmonton Oilers are caught up in the drama of the NHL playoffs. Best of seven series provide little room for error, tensions rising with each loss. Even within each game, every bounce can swing the pendulum of power in one direction or another. For now, the pressure is on the Oilers, and negative narratives are in full bloom.
The Oilers have several of these narratives running wild at the moment. The decision on which goalie to start is justifiably taking on a large part of the conversation, followed by questions with the Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci pairing. Both are clearly issues that all of Oil Country will have on the mind, but another narrative seems to be growing, another seed of doubt taking shape. Do the Oilers need more from their forwards? Let’s take a look at some of the threads and what implications they might weave as the Oilers prepare to avoid falling short against the Canucks.
Is there a problem?
One thing that is clicking on all cylinders is the Oilers power play. As star players around the league find their effectiveness diminished in the playoffs, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continue to excel in the increased competition. This Oilers power play is one of if not the NHL’s greatest units of all time, going back to setting the records for efficiency last season. Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have all contributed here as well.
Draisaitl is not at full health, and still a force to be reckoned with. His defensive results have fallen recently, the Oilers failing to find a stable Draisaitl line without McDavid on it. Given the injury it might be best to keep the two on the same line, but with the rest of the lineup struggling to score some lineup changes up front seem inevitable.
New line combinations as a possibility
Naturally, Adam Henrique being available would be a huge boost to the group. Regardless of his absence, Nugent-Hopkins might need more help than the duo of Dylan Holloway and Evander Kane on his wings as a second line centre. The spotlight then switches, the question reframed: if Draisaitl is on McDavid’s line, can the Oilers afford to keep Hyman on it as well?
Down early and chasing the game, the Oilers spent Game 3 leaning heavily on a five player unit of the Draisaitl-McDavid-Hyman line with Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm on defence. Coach Kris Knoblauch was clearly running a short bench trying to draw even, and the unit did generate, but this might not be the ideal game script for the Oilers in the long term.
Hyman and McDavid have been nearly inseparable this season, and to great success. Especially without Henrique in the lineup, completely loading up might not give the Oilers depth a fair shot. This might mean throwing Hyman onto Nugent-Hopkins line together, perhaps with Henrique, which would certainly help Nugent-Hopkins’ chances of producing some even strength offence.
A by-product of this would be finding someone who can handle minutes alongside McDavid and Draisaitl. The obvious candidate is Evander Kane. Kane has been playing through an injury for most of this season, which might be contributing to his decreased level of play deeper into his career. Finding himself with a shrinking role, Kane might not be able to handle a top line spot through an entire regular season, but he has the quality and experience to add a jolt, or at least fill in capably alongside a pair of superstars. This would likely give the Oilers the best version of Kane that they could hope for at this point.
It is entirely possible that the Oilers would rotate other wingers in should the bench shorten. If Kane cannot sustain the full usage of MCDavid and Draisaitl the Oilers can give shifts to others here and there. Most players in the Oilers lineup would be in a great position to show off their abilities alongside. Corey Perry might be a perfect candidate to spell in to a shift or two, mimicking some of Hyman’s net front presence.
Fierce foe in the Canucks
Though the Oilers outshot and outchanced the Canucks in Game 3, the Canucks are content with defending a lead. In a way, this is evidenced by their forward deployment, opting for three lines capable of contributing. This allows the team to be fresh enough to remain committed to defence, to sustain a consistent effort. The Canucks forged an identity of defending throughout the year, as they took a lot of early leads. This score effect might have hurt their possession and expected goals metrics through the season, but the Canucks are unified in their commitment to win games exactly as they have. This mental relentlessness is what gives the Canucks the aura of a “team of destiny.” Cohesive team intensity, strong goaltending, and timely scoring.
Regardless of what the Oilers decide to do up front, the Canucks are a fierce foe. They are still a beatable opponent, though. A few posts that go in for them, a better performance in net and the Oilers would be in a better spot. The Oilers have what it takes, but it might quickly slip away.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
