Kris Knoblauch is shaking everything up and going with a brand new set of lines for tonight's must-win game 3 against the Los Angeles Kings.
From Bob Stauffer of 'Oilers Now,' the Oilers lines during practice today were significantly different from the lines they used in Game 2.
Draisaitl-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-RNH-Arvidsson
Kane-Henrique-Brown
Frederic-Janmark-Perry
Skinner/Jones-Ryan-KapanenKlingberg-Bouchard
Nurse-Emberson
Kulak-Walman
Brown-StecherPickard
Skinner
While no one knows if it is an improvement, the focus does appear to be on building players who already have some chemistry into a unit.
The top line, with longtime power-play linemates, is a case in point. While the other lines can't compare in terms of experience, Podkolzin and Arvidsson were together frequently this season, as were Brown and Henrique.
Nugent-Hopkins centered Podkolzin and Arvidsson recently, but with mixed results, as they scored six goals but also gave up six against in 294 even-strength minutes.
Knoblauch is reuniting a very dominant first line
The most significant change is the reunion of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Hyman. They only played 294 even-strength minutes in a row this season, but they were incredible, scoring 32 and conceding only 14, for a 70% Goals For Percentage.
Having home-ice advantage, Coach Knoblauch is able to control matchups more effectively, and this group is even more daunting.
Defensively, the pairings are questionable. It is unconventional to pair right-handed defensemen Klingberg and Bouchard, and left-handed defensemen Kulak and Walman.
Klingberg and Walman both are known to play their off side, but more conventional left-right pairings like Walman and Bouchard, and Kulak and Klingberg could be more balanced.
In net, the switch to Calvin Pickard is a positive move. Stuart Skinner wasn't terrible in the first few games, but he didn't make the huge saves when his team needed him to either. The team does need a spark, and Pickard can perhaps provide that to them.
