Lineup change #2 - Ty Emberson out, Troy Stecher in
I've said before and I'll say it again - I could never figure out why Troy Stecher wasn't in the lineup in the playoffs for the Oilers these playoffs until now. Maybe because once the Oilers got healthy again on the back end they felt they didn't need him. Whatever the case may be, Stecher will draw in for the first time in these playoffs.
I can't blame the Oilers for making this change right now, because while Ty Emberson has done....OK, as his calling card is as a stay at home defender and he has by and large accomplished that by finishing with a +1 so far, there's no question the Oilers as a team need to get better defending in game four than they did in game three if they want to split the games at home with Vegas and put a stranglehold on the opposition before we go back to hostile territory for game five.
It's important to note that Emberson has barely passed the 100-game mark in the regular season and this is in fact his first trip to the playoffs, so it's not surprising that he is falling short in a couple of key areas.
First of all, in the regular season Emberson put up 13 points of secondary offence in the regular season but so far in the playoffs......nothing. He needs to find that secondary puck moving magic again as the Oilers need all hands on deck to win this thing and move onto the next round. The other portion of his game that has suffered in the playoffs is his shot blocking - and this might be the biggest reason why he's being taken out of the lineup right now.
In the regular season Emberson was fourth on the team in blocked shots with 97 over 76 games and the same spot in terms of BS/60 with 5.06. In the playoffs Emberson has nosedived to a mere four - yes FOUR - blocked shots in nine games, sliding all the way down to 15th on the team, although somehow eighth on the team in BkS/60 with 2.81 - although still a huge nosedive nonetheless. While Emberson's overall defensive game has gotten better, his offensive and shot blocking games have gotten much worse, which for him means one step forward but two steps back. I don't blame coach K for taking him out of the lineup one bit.
With Stecher the Oilers are losing size but gaining much more. For starters, Stecher has 560 NHL regular season games to his name as well as 21 playoff games with two different teams over two different seasons, so the Oilers are gaining some vital experience here. It seems to me that Emberson could do with some time in the press box considering his play last game. Stecher also brings more offense to the table - the last time he played in the playoffs in 2022 for the LA Kings (against the Oilers, ironically, in the first round), Stecher put up 2-2-4 in those four games, so he's a proven commodity in terms of putting up offense in the playoffs, which Emberson clearly can't say.
Stecher also proved he has chemistry with Darnell Nurse in the regular season, and it's not unreasonable for that to expect that to resurface in the playoffs too. Although he's slated to play more with Brett Kulak on the third pairing, you can bet that coach K will likely blender up the pairings at some point during the game, he always does. You hate to break up that Walman-Klingberg pairing because it's done so well together, but Knoblauch may not have much of a choice as no player should be considered untouchable in terms of where they play in the lineup. Stecher was also +4 in those playoffs for the Kings, better than Emberson has been in these playoffs.
As far as shot blocking goes, although Stecher wasn't quite as good as Emberson in the regular season he's still got some game in that department. And unlike Emberson, Stecher might actually maintain his regular season pace in the playoffs.
I'm 100 percent on board with this switcheroo. We lose some size but gain defensive play, offence, experience, and maybe even some blocked shots too. I'd do that trade any day of the week and twice on Sunday.