Oilers Blue Line Becoming a Concern In Stanley Cup Final Series

The Edmonton Oilers are swimming upstream as they head home for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday. Already down 2-0 in the series, the roster saw changes going into Game 2 where head coach Kris Knoblauch made Cody Ceci a healthy scratch for the first time in his career as an Oiler. In that same Game 2 loss, Darnell Nurse was injured, Evan Bouchard looked dead tired, and the Panthers drained the energy out of the remaining defense corps in a display that should be cause for concern the rest of the way. The blue line is becoming a real concern for this team.

Can the Oilers find a second wind? They say a series does not begin until a road team wins a game. The Oilers need their offense to find another level, but it starts with the team’s defensive game, one that until this series, was a strength in these playoffs.

What’s the Status of Darnell Nurse?

Nurse was injured early in Game 2 and while he refused to leave the bench and tried to skate off whatever his issue was during multiple commercial breaks, he was clearly labouring. He played a couple of shifts down the stretch but only managed 4:06 in the game. It’s not clear if he’ll be a go for Game 3, but it sounds probable.

The issue becomes how effective he’ll be. Already struggling in these playoffs at times, Nurse playing with a nagging issue only creates more issues.

Is Cody Ceci Back In on the Blue Line?

The Oilers looked completely disjointed in Game 2. You’ll be hard-pressed to find many fans who believe that’s because Ceci wasn’t in the lineup, but it would be unfair to rule that out completely. He’s been a regular for the Oilers since his arrival and while his underlying numbers don’t speak glowingly of his defensive prowess, the Oilers might be best to go with what they know.

The issue would be who he pairs with. More often than not, the Nurse and Ceci combo hasn’t worked.

If Nurse is out, Ceci will be back in. He’ll likely get minutes with Philip Broberg or Brett Kulak. Do the Oilers want Vincent Desharnais and Broberg as a pairing? Is that too much playoff inexperience to handle the Panthers’ attack?

How Much Can Oilers ask Evan Bouchard to Handle?

The Oilers are running the risk of overextending Evan Bouchard. He’s taking a lot of heat for a bad Game 2, but the defenseman played 30:40, an incredible amount. This after he played 27:17 in Game 1. In Game 2, he played nearly six minutes more than his defense partner Mattias Ekholm. There is only so much Bouchard can handle and as the series goes along, he’ll grow more and more tired.

Except the penalty kill, the Oilers are asking him to be everything, all the time. If Nurse is out and Knoblauch doesn’t feel comfortable with three of his defenders to eat bit minutes, the load is heavily on the shoulders of Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm.

Next: Barkov Back for the Panthers, Should Play Game 3 vs. Oilers