{"id":442894,"date":"2024-06-15T18:27:25","date_gmt":"2024-06-15T22:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=442894"},"modified":"2024-06-15T18:27:25","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T22:27:25","slug":"analyzing-edmonton-oilers-lineup-ahead-of-game-4-vs-florida-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/06\/15\/analyzing-edmonton-oilers-lineup-ahead-of-game-4-vs-florida-panthers\/","title":{"rendered":"Analyzing the Edmonton Oilers Lineup Ahead of Game 4 vs the Florida Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Oilers have to figure it out. All along Head Coach Kris Knoblauch has been praised for having a great read on the pulse of the team. He has also done a wonderful job for the Oilers at handling the media, as per his answer on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kaneev01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evander Kane<\/a>&#8216;s Game 4 status against the Panthers. In contrast, this isn&#8217;t the regular season, and besides the fact Knoblauch still only has 69 games of career NHL regular season experience. Sidebar, it was an incredible 69-game run, with a 46-18-5 record good for a .703 win%. Moreover, this is the pros, and the Florida Panthers are excellent at playing fast and physically and very importantly, with accountability.<\/p>\n<h2>Any Guesses Ahead of Game 4 of the Oilers and Panthers<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"iO3et6PdhE\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/06\/15\/nhl-predictions-june-15-w-florida-panthers-vs-edmonton-oilers\/\" target=\"_self\">NHL Predictions: June 15 w\/ Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;NHL Predictions: June 15 w\/ Florida Panthers vs Edmonton Oilers&#8221; &#8212; Last Word On Hockey\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/06\/15\/nhl-predictions-june-15-w-florida-panthers-vs-edmonton-oilers\/embed\/#?secret=iHlKcxTGZM#?secret=iO3et6PdhE\" data-secret=\"iO3et6PdhE\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>To Knoblauch&#8217;s credit, there have been a couple of great examples of him pushing the right buttons. Sitting down <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/skinnst01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stuart Skinner<\/a> for a pair of games versus the Canucks, and allowing him to reset. Those two games, the more senior <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/pickaca01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Calvin Pickard<\/a> found his way between the pipes. Another great, more recent example was getting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/brobeph01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philip Broberg<\/a> into the lineup. In fact, Broberg scored a goal in the Game 3 loss. So, do we think there is any tricks up the Oilers&#8217; coach&#8217;s sleeve tonight?<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"IZMIy6LNK0\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/06\/14\/stanley-cup-finals-edmonton-oilers-vs-florida-panthers-mid-series-recap\/\" target=\"_self\">Stanley Cup Final Edmonton Oilers vs Florida Panthers Mid-Series Recap<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Stanley Cup Final Edmonton Oilers vs Florida Panthers Mid-Series Recap&#8221; &#8212; Last Word On Hockey\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/06\/14\/stanley-cup-finals-edmonton-oilers-vs-florida-panthers-mid-series-recap\/embed\/#?secret=IZ0E4b8WeB#?secret=IZMIy6LNK0\" data-secret=\"IZMIy6LNK0\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What Will Tonight Bring for the Edmonton Oilers?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The fact <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">of the matter remains<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> for tonight&#8217;s Game 4 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">action,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> the Edmonton Oilers find themselves down three games to none in the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Final series with the Florida Panthers. <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tsn.ca\/nhl\/video\/knoblauch-mum-on-kanes-status-for-tonights-game-4~2941013\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Credit to Knoblauch again<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, as the Oilers have remained hush regarding their lineup. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Evander Kane&#8217;s status is the big one, but if we are going on the <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/oilersnation.com\/news\/gdb-22-0-do-or-die-for-the-edmonton-oilers-in-game-4-6pm-mt-cbc\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">expected lines from practice<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, he will miss<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Conversely, he didn&#8217;t skate at all on gameday before Game 2 and played. Moreover, Game 3 saw him being scratched not long before puck drop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In terms of<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> the rest of the lineup<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, someone needs to get going<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Many of the Oilers top players have been shutout in the goal column thus far in the series. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Kane <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">along<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> with Ryan<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Nugent-Hopkins, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/draisle01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Leon Draisaitl<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/hymanza01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Hyman<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bouchev01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Bouchard<\/a>, and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">yes, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcdavco01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Connor McDavid<\/a> <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">himself<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> have combined for zero goals in the series to this point.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> However, we must give the captain a pass. He does only have five goals in the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">playoffs,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> to go along with his incredible 29 assists. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Furthermore, he does have three assists in the final. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">most influential of those final series assists were the<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> two from the third period of the last game.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Whenever McDavid was on the ice, he <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was doing<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> everything he could <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">to not go down 3-0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. As a team, the Oilers have controlled the pace of play at times throughout the series quite well. One example was <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">that third-period<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> last game, where they outscored Florida 2-0. Also, shots were only 6-5 in <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">favour<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> of the Oilers<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, therefore<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, they were able to <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">shutdown<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> any <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Panthers<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> attack. Moreover, the Game 3 shot total was 35-23 for the Oilers, which had a similar feel to the Game 1 total of 32-18.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Looking at the Potential Lineup Changes or Similarities to Game 3 Impact<\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Two players that played in both of those <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">games,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> but were coincidentally sat out for Game <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">2,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/perryco01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Corey Perry<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/cecico01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cody Ceci<\/a>. For Perry, we have heard all the accolades. He is the current active NHL leader with 211 playoff games <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">under his belt<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Also, he was a 2007 Stanley Cup winner and has the claim to fame as the first NHLer in history to appear in the finals with five <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">different<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> teams. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Needless to say,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> the Oilers need that &#8216;never back down&#8217; presence in the lineup. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Additionally<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, Cody Ceci appears to be in tonight again. His Game 2 scratch was a bit of an anomaly for the defender who played 79 games in the regular season, averaging 20:01 a <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">night,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> and tallying 25 points. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Being a healthy scratch, or even not having a regular shift, is <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">just<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> something <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">he&#8217;s not accustomed<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> to <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">having done<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> He is averaging 19:32 a night in this year&#8217;s playoffs, which is <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">actually<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> down from his career playoff average of 20:41.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Who Appears to Be out Tonight for Edmonton<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Again, sticking with the expected linemate, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/ryande01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derek Ryan<\/a> is expected to draw in. That leaves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/carrisa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Carrick<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/deshavi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vincent Desharnais<\/a> out. Carrick has only played <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">10<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> games this <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">post-season,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> and only 9:15 of ice time in those games. So, to see him miss the elimination Game 4 between the Oilers and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Panthers,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> wouldn&#8217;t be a huge surprise. Vinny Desharnais would be a bit more of a surprise. That is given the physical presence he can provide in the matchup game. However, his being out is more of a product of who do you replace? Ceci deserves to be in. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kulakbr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brett Kulak<\/a> is too dependable. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We touched on Broberg, and you can&#8217;t take out a goal scorer. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lastly,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> would be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/n\/nurseda01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darnell Nurse<\/a>, but even he has found a bit of a mean streak, seemingly giving the Panthers the extra shot whenever the opportunity so presents itself. He may get a bad rap from the fanbase at times, and probably deservingly so, but <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the fact remains<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> he is still extremely talented, and if he&#8217;s playing his best, you need his abilities in the lineup. Whatever the issue from Game 2 was for Nurse, he did seem over it in Game 3.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The last note, and a player who has been sat this post-season, but is expected to be in <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">tonight<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/foegewa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-15_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Warren Foegele<\/a>. He was ejected early in Game 3 for kneeing. This especially compounded with the fact that Kane was out, but then adding Foegele being out did impact the Oilers. Falling behind 4-1, they did seem to lack rhythm. It wasn&#8217;t until McDavid tried to steal the show in the third, but even still outside of McDavid, you could tell the club lacked flow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Our final note is that if the Oilers are to come back <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">McDavid<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> and Draisaitl need to do their best Batman-and-Robin. Without the two producing, the Stanley Cup Finalist Oilers are mere civilians. Get ready, the<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">puck drop isn&#8217;t <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">long from now<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> from Edmonton&#8217;s Roger Place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main photo credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Oilers have to figure it out. All along Head Coach Kris Knoblauch has been praised for having a great read on the pulse of the team. He has also done a wonderful job for the Oilers at handling the media, as per his answer on Evander Kane&#8216;s Game 4 status against the Panthers. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4222,"featured_media":442895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,6,4547,34,4548],"tags":[7903,139,122,138,106,3803],"class_list":["post-442894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oilers","category-panthers","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","tag-2024-stanley-cup-playoffs","tag-connor-mcdavid","tag-corey-perry","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-florida-panthers","tag-philip-broberg"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}