That defense is freaking atrocious

Yes Koskinen again

Will Kassian not be back? Edmonton got outdone on physicality and Montreal started getting chippy with a pretty quiet bench from Edmonton. To me Neal and khaira draw back in and they put the playoff 4th line back together. I also think jones and/or bear may even come out and Russell and/or Bouchard go in.

Kassian just had a child, so he will miss at least 1 game and neal is on a dtd injury, Russell, IDK, cuz Tippett wants to leave in Slater Koekkeok, and Bouchard won't play until at least the deadline

I thought Koekkeok had a solid game tbh, Jones seemed like he was playing too high up in the lineup and Larsson just seemed horrible honestly. Idk how much better Russell is but I think I would give him a chance over Larsson

Toronto and Edmonton have explosive offence but their D needs helps. If you can shut down top two guys, teams should beat Oilers & Leafs.

I was wondering on Kassian he missed the one game and had a day off so it probably depends on him and the wife. He’s had a couple of days do you think he stays out longer? Neal was rumoured to be ready for Saturday he’s been skating for about 10-14 days so anytime. Koekoek wouldn’t come out it would be jones. Bear also didn’t play the last ten minutes of last game so maybe he sits?

Russell is a left shot Larsson is a right. They had problems moving the puck I don’t think that would help putting a left shot on the right. Jones was running a muck and Larsson had to clean up after him. Larsson would get replaced by Bouchard then jones/Bouchard or Russell/Bouchard is your 3rd pair?

at least the Oilers have Philip Broberg on the way

IDK how long hes out, he was at training camp, but the day of the opener, he was deemed unfit to play

Kassian will be back in the lineup his child was born Saturday game day the only reason he missed the game, Neal should be close and I think JJ draws back in and Jones out and Russell, Koekkoek moves up to play with Larsson, if Neal’s ready, Shore, Nygard and Ennis out, JJ, Neal and Kassian in.

It really depends what type of game the Oilers want to play. Towards the end it started getting a little more physical, if thats the type of game they want tonight I'm assuming they would go with Russell/Bouchard on the 3rd pair.

Why would you screw up all the defense pairings?

I like that 3rd line - they've only had 7 minutes together but I think they have potential. They'll need a few games to gel a bit so I'm not expecting much right away, but I think Tippett should stick with that line for 5-10 games. Of course, if Kassian is not playing tonight I could see Tippett playing Puljujarvi in the 1st line as he's the type of linemate McDavid needs.

I think Nurse/ bear and Koekoek/Barrie are joined at the hip unfortunately. Nurse larsson doesn't work. Jones-Barrie would be an absolute mess. I would like a message sent to jones and larsson and to see russell and bouchard draw in.

I agree with this.


But not this.

Jones-Larsson have been fine except for the first game.

41.30 CF%
53.33 FF%
54.54 SF%
0-1 goals
55.81 xGF%
.900 PDO

So you think it's just Nurse-bear that has been the problem?

Nurse-Bear this year:

55.00 CF%
56.25 FF%
54.29 SF%
71.43 GF% (5-2)
57.94 xGF%
62.79 SCF%
64.00 HDCF%

I'm not seeing an issue there. The issues almost exclusively have come when Tippett mixed up the pairings - except for the Jones-Larsson miscues in game 1. It takes time to get used to a new partner though, so some bumps are to be expected. From the look of things, there were some bumps in G1 but not since then with these pairings, as the past 2 games:

The Oilers have allowed 5 goals at 5v5
Nurse-Bear have gone 3-1
Jones-Larsson have gone 0-1
Koekkoek-Barrie have gone 1-1

Three goals allowed from the regular pairings (1.50 GA/GP) is pretty good, really. Two aren't accounted for as they came when Tippett started mixing things up. Lets look at the "per-sixties" just to make sure:

The Oilers played 95:58 at 5v5 over the past 2 games (3.12 GA/60)
Nurse-Bear have played 28:46 (2.08 GA/60)
Jones-Larsson have played 25:35 (2.34 GA/60)
Koekkoek-Barrie have played 20:04 (3.00 GA/60)
Mixed pairings: 21:33 (5.58 GA/60)

Unless there's an injury, I'd stick with these guys for now, but I'd staple them together.