Broberg-Stecher in, Nurse-Ceci out as Oilers prepare for playoffs

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Game 81: Edmonton at Arizona

It’s official, the Edmonton Oilers are locked into second place in the Pacific Division. Their provincial rivals were no help last night, as the Calgary Flames fell rather meekly to Vancouver who extended their lead to 5 points, with the Oilers having “only” 2 games left. Congratulations to the Canucks and their fans for claiming another regular season banner; the Paciifc is a tough division and they won it fair and square.

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I say “only” with quotation marks because with 2 days left in the season, 2 games is a lot. It is, in fact, 1 more than 18 NHL teams and 2 (two) more than the other 13 whose season wound down on Monday or Tuesday.

It’s not just the last 2 days, it’s the whole final week. Last Friday morning the Oilers were the only team with 5 games left. On Monday, the only team still with 3. Now on Wednesday, the one and only that still has 2.

One might think that a league with a binary number of teams might find a more equitable way to close out the slate, but this isn’t just any league we’re talking about here, it’s the good ol’ NHL. The league where 3 teams can be eliminated from the playoffs with a single empty net goal 2 days before season’s end. I’ve always wondered if Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick was thinking of the NHL when she sang (in White Rabbit), “When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead”.

Be that as it may, this is the situation facing the Oilers so they have to deal with it best they can. Which from coach Kris Knoblauch’s perspective means: use all the players at your disposal, share the ice time, and rest the players who most need rest.

This from Bob Stauffer checks the boxes:

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So who’s out? It’s a 24-man roster just now, and just 19 of them are apt to play tonight. Which 5 get the night off?

Let’s start where Bob did with Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci, who will come out of the line-up together leaving the other 2 pairings intact and featuring Philip Broberg and Troy Stecher as the listed third pairing. It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff apportions ice time, but under the circumstances it should be pretty even.

Broberg-Stecher is the pairing to watch in this tilt, and presumably in tomorrow’s as well, when logic suggests it will be rest night for Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard. Slightly surprised the team didn’t do this one game earlier and give all 3 main pairings a break, but the big minute-munchers in the top 4 are the play here.

Huge game for Broberg, who has been crushing it in the AHL with 3-9-12 in his last 8 games. Reminder, he’s a d-man. Keen to see how much of that translates at the highest level. As for Stecher, he had 2 separate stints as a Coyote including much of the current campaign so in a sense has earned this game.

Up front there are no changes to the lines that thumped San Jose Sharks 9-2 on Monday, meaning Evander Kane and Derek Ryan remain out of the line-up. Kane, who has played some strong hockey recently, has been dealing with physical issues throughout the season. Important that he be as close to 100% as possible when the meaningful games begin.

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No reason to cut short Dylan Holloway‘s audition at 3LW in any event. He’s not exactly failing it with 4 points in 4 games including a 3-point outing vs. the Sharks. Compare and contrast to the 32 games it took Holloway to score his first 4 points of the season, which is where he stood before finally getting caught in the numbers game at the deadline. His trip to Bakersfield has proven a terrific success, as he ripped it up in the lower league (18 GP, 10-6-16, +7) and has carried on in that vein since his return (4 GP, 2-2-4, +4).

I’m a little surprised not to see Ryan filling in for Corey Perry on the other wing of line 3, but that exchange could also be done on Thursday. Might as well platoon your 2 oldest players on the back-to-back.

In goal, no surprise at all that Calvin Pickard gets the start after Stu Skinner played the prior 2 games.

Meaning Nurse, Ceci, Kane, Ryan and Skinner will all get the night off, the latter doing so on the bench.

That’s the coach’s perspective. How about the GM’s? I’m puzzled that the squad hasn’t made more recalls. They still have 2 moves remaining of the 4 allotted post-deadline, no restrictions on cap space and no impact on prepaying bonuses. But at this point, a significant number of forwards are destined to play 5 games in 7 days to close things out. Far from ideal.

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With the Bakersfield Condors playing a quasi-meaningful game tonight, perhaps Ken Holland waits to make a move late in the day specifically for Game 82. Perhaps it will be Sam Gagner who comes in for Perry in Denver on Thursday. Maybe Raphael Lavoie gives Zach Hyman a breather. Or perhaps it’s Jack Campbell who gets the crease, with Pickard the ball cap and Skinner the suit and optional tie. Worth considering?

Tonight’s opponent

Tonight in the final big league game at historic Mullett Arena, the Oilers are apt to face a pack of Coyotes who will be hungry to please their rabid fans one last time. It’s apt to get emotional at times. This is a night for the Oilers to play smart, to let the puck do the work, to look after themselves and each other.

The Desert Dogs are destined for Salt Lake City, 1 state and 10 hours up the I-15 from Phoenix/Glendale/Tempe. All 3 of those cities were sequentially home to the Coyotes, and none proved to be the solution. The franchise wound up spending more years in Arizona (28) than they did in Winnipeg as the original Jets, who spent 7 years in the World Hockey Association and 17 more in the NHL after the merger. They now enter the realm of long-term wandering franchises, the Boston-to-Milwaukee-to-Atlanta Braves of the hockey world.

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Player to watch is forward Josh Doan, who follows in his dad’s footsteps in more ways than one. Shane Doan broke in during the final season of the Jets and became the face of the franchise in Arizona. Now Josh breaks in during the final season of the Coyotes and carries the family name on to Utah. He’s been extremely impressive since his late-season recall, posting NHL boxcars of 10 GP, 5-4-9, +5 including a goal and an assist in Edmonton last Friday.

Finally, a heartfelt stick tap to to the home fans who are losing their team. There weren’t quite enough of them, but this isn’t the time to pile on the hardcore puck supporters, instead to commiserate. I remember what losing the Trappers felt like (never mind the Expos) and it’s a gut punch.

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