Oilers: Splitting up McDavid and Draisaitl makes the most sense to start
By Jim Lynch
The Edmonton Oilers need scoring from their entire lineup in the postseason. While having a star like Connor McDavid play out of his mind is great, the entire lineup needs to get involved.
Thatcher Demko shut down the Oilers in their final game of the regular season. The playoffs are a time when hot goaltending can totally change a series, and if a team is not rolling three or four lines they are going to struggle.
For the Oilers to succeed, splitting up Draisaitl and McDavid makes the most sense.
When the Winnipeg Jets come to Edmonton for game one of the playoffs on Wednesday night, I think fans can expect to see Draisaitl and McDavid on different lines. Obviously Dave Tippett is going to be able to shake up the lines in game whenever he needs to, but to start things off the two should be separated.
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When it comes to five on five, the Oilers need to get scoring from everyone in the lineup. The fact that McDavid broke an NHL record this season and was involved in the majority of Oilers goals is great, but it also shows that the rest of the lineup is not scoring.
Splitting up the two biggest goal scoreres and point getters in the league would not hurt at all. McDavid would be able to lead his line with players like Dominik Kahun and Jesse Puljujarvi while Draisaitl does his own thing with guys like RNH and Kyle Turris (via dailyfaceoff.com).
The actual players that end up skating with Draisaitl and McDavid does not matter that much considering how great those two are. Either way if the team can create more scoring chances and spread the depth of the lineup a little more they will be better off.
Winnipeg plays a very physical game but they have not been that great down the last stretch of the season. The Oilers have controlled the play when they met all season, making sure the team is always attacking and driving things offensively might mean the team need sto split up their two top guys. Besides then once things do take a turn for the worse they can always go back to playing McDavid and Draisaitl.