The Edmonton Oilers had high hopes heading into the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, however they suffered a 3-0 Game 1 loss. Head coach Kris Knoblauch figured out Edmonton's lineup at the Western Conference Final's midway point with the right mix of defense pairings and forward depth. The loss didn't show how the game played out on the ice.
The Oilers nearly doubled the Panthers in shots, but Sergei Bobrovsky was up to the task for his 32-save shutout. There is an argument that the Oilers' stars didn't show the same finish as in past series, but sometimes the puck won't go in the net. If the Oilers play seven games like Game 1, they will likely win four and hoist the Stanley Cup.
The biggest issue for the Oilers is that early goals by the Panthers allowed Florida to play from ahead and sit on their lead. Edmonton needs to score first in the next game and see how the Panthers do when playing from behind. If not, we could see Game 2 play out like Game 1.
What do they need to do to make this game plan a reality? Let's look at the Oilers who are most to blame for the Game 1 loss and what needs to happen to avoid a repeat.
Kris Knoblauch inexplicably changes the lineup
The Oilers arguably played their best hockey of the season in Games 4-6 of the Western Conference Final. The narrative out of Game 6 was that the Oilers were lucky to win due to the disparity in shots, but that's no different than the Panthers' win in Game 1.
Edmonton should have been content with the outcome and kept the lineup the same, but Kris Knoblauch had other ideas. Warren Foegele was a scratch for those three games to end the Conference Finals, with Sam Carrick and Derek Ryan swapping in and out of the lineup. However, Knoblauch moved Foegele to the third line while scratching Carrick and Ryan.
Knoblauch had also figured out the defense pairings, splitting up the dreadful pair of Cody Ceci and Darnell Nurse while inserting Phillip Broberg, and scratching reliable Vincent Desharnais. Brett Kulak went on a pair with Nurse, while Broberg helped mask some of Ceci's flaws.
Knoblauch returned to Nurse and Ceci for some reason and, instead of reinserting Desharnais, put Broberg with Kulak, a pair that hadn't played together before.
Darnell Nurse, Cody Ceci draw the ire of Oilers Nation
The Nurse and Ceci pairing were on the ice for both non-empty net goals against. Still, it's hard to blame Nurse and Ceci in this game since it wasn't their fault they were put back together.
Nurse hadn't played great alongside Kulak, but Ceci played his best hockey. The Oilers face a problem with Nurse, as he was on the ice for five goals scored and 12 goals against without Ceci. However, Ceci was excelling with Phillip Broberg.
The pair were out there for three goals scored and two against. The pair's stats together are where it gets ugly, as the team combined for 75 shots and 105 shots against them. They were on the ice for five goals but a whopping 14 against.
The possibility of scratching Darnell Nurse is a scary one for the Oilers. The defenseman with the $9.5 million cap hit per year will undoubtedly cause a buzz through Edmonton if he is out of the lineup. The front office is already under fire for giving him the contract, so it's hard to believe they'll agree to him sitting in the press box.
There's no way that Knoblauch can go back to this pairing, and if he does, it could be the end for the Oilers. Edmonton's best chance would be returning to the Western Conference Final lines. If the Oilers roll out Nurse and Ceci together in Game 2 and fall into a two-game hole, they'll have no one to blame but themselves.
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