“Our best is coming:” Oilers prepare for lineup change

“I don’t think our best has shown up all series long, but it’s coming,” said Connor McDavid post game three breakdown.

The captain spoke similar words in just about every round of the playoffs thus far.

“Our best is coming.”

“Our best hockey is still in front of us.”

But is it here? Has this “best hockey” that will win the Edmonton Oilers the Stanley Cup in face of the Florida Panthers arrived? Is it even in the room?

For fear of sounding too harsh, we’ll leave it at this; it better be.

Game three felt must-win because of the disadvantage of giving Paul Maurice’s crew a Stanley Cup final lead.

Game four is really must-win because not only will the Oilers be going down 3-1, but they would have given the Panthers three back-to-back wins, and history has shown the results of such a lead.

Does that make game five extremely must-win? Only if this peripheral ball is dropped again.

“In that regard, I don’t think we have gotten up to the standard where we want to be yet,” began Mattias Ekholm during an off-day turned practice. “I think it’s coming.

“We need to raise our game.”

To do what Ekholm has outlined, head coach Kris Knoblauch has rearranged three lines, all of the pairings, and made a confirmed decision in net for game four.

The Oilers will stick with Stuart Skinner in net as opposed to Calvin Pickard (6-0 this postseason) in preparation for another Panther-esque game.

This decision, while questioned for a couple of days, is the obvious one. Let’s not forget that Skinner is 6-0 in game fours.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been really impressed with how Stu has handled things, one being adversity,” explained Knoblauch when asked what made him choose Skinner. “Whether that’s in the regular season, playoffs, things haven’t always gone smoothly, but he’s been able to work it out and respond nicely.

“Another one is how well he’s played in the second half of series’. That goes for every single series last year (and) this year. And there’s confidence that here’s a guy that’s just going to continue to get better as the series moves on.”

There’s only up from game three’s five goals against (six total) for the Oilers’ netminder (hopefully).

For the defensive pairings, Troy Stecher has replaced John Klingberg and will join Darnell Nurse, who can only play with his $787,500 partner, on the second unit. Brett Kulak will play with Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm will play with Jake Walman.

These are new pairings, in a way, but entirely necessary. Nurse and Stecher played a strong righty-lefty combo prior to Ekholm’s return, and the top and bottom D-pairing weren’t working.

“With the D pairings that we’ve had, we’ve moved a lot of guys around and Darnell and Troy have played really well together, whether that’s in playoffs or the regular season, and I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but the tandem has been really good.”

“Everything’s a little bit magnified, but at the end of the day, it’s just another game,” continued Stecher. “I know what makes me a successful player & now it’s my responsibility to go out there & do that.”

In the front end, Corey Perry has been moved to the fourth line, Jeff Skinner will replace Victor Arvidsson on the third line, Connor Brown will right-wing McDavid, and the second line remains entirely the same.

Brown with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid adds some speed, but this is not a “demotion” for Corey Perry.

Anything for “better hockey,” and this is it.

“We felt that we could use a change, have those guys come in and give us a boost,” added Knoblauch. “We’ve seen it throughout the playoffs where we’ve made alterations to our lineup, and it’s benefited us.”

Exhibit A: Jeff Skinner and Ekholm’s return in the Western Conference final.

Exhibit B: Rearanging the defensive pairings and the shutouts that followed.

If this is a run of bad games, as Leon Draisaitl would say, then the Oilers’ new lines could mean “the best” of what the Oilers have to offer.

“You go through these runs,” began Draisaitl. “Last year, we were under pressure for a lot of games, even in the Vancouver series, (so) you get comfortable in those situations. Knowing that you play one good game, you find a way to get a win on the road, and you go home, and the series is tied.

“We know it’s going to be hard. (Florida’s) got the same plan over there. But with experience, you learn that in these moments, all you need is one game right now.”

Edmonton Oilers expected lines: