Lets hope we can bounce back in game 3

I can't believe that we're already at do-or-die levels and it's against the Jets. Right up until they clinched a berth Winnipeg was not a happy place to be: the players had checked out on the coach, they were glacier-cold, and nothing broke their way.

I want a coaching change if Edmonton is knocked out by the Jets. Spare me the rhetoric regarding coaching turnovers, Tippett has been atrocious since the play-ins last year. He's yet to run a completely optimized roster this year.

woah woah woah

But in all seriousness, I agree that Tippett is getting out-coached by Maurice. And really weird to see him pair 29+97 for the whole game. The Jets clearly have the superior depth atm, and it became even more obvious when you put them on one line.

I think the Jets offence will get a huge boost for Game 3 when Ehlers gets back too.

Teams winning in the playoffs this year are those out gooning the goon teams.
BOS is out gooning WSH. Pens 4th line is out NYI the NYI top line.
EDM should adapt or find their way out the playoffs. Run the goalie. Rattle him.
It's apparently the game the NHL wants.

I can't advocate for intentionally injuring Hellebuyck in order to win this series. I'd much rather lose the series than stoop to that kind of malarkey.

I think the BOS-WAS series has been much more even and less goon-y than you're making it out to be. Physical yes, but I don't believe either teams to be 'goon squads', even if members of each squad sometimes toe the line. They know what they can and can't get away with due to so many years in the postseason. The Capitals got Jultz'd in overtime (love to see it) and were simply outplayed in game 3. The Islanders have a similar coaching problem to the Oilers: key players (Wahlstrom, Palmieri) haven't been utilized correctly and there's too much investment in that hard, checking style that doesn't mesh well with the players in question.

I think Tippet is a competent specialist, all his moves are always to the point. The third game you will see will be for the Oilers. The first three really drove the rivals. The second three, and in particular Hopkins was a pale shadow, Kahun is not a top6 player for a contender. McLeod needs to strengthen the center of the second three, we shift Hopkins to the flank, so it will be better. The bottom threes should be mostly big guys with playoff experience that's a fact. So Archie's third triplet, Haas' versatile right-grip center, will be useful and Chiasson has done well in the first two games, he is a tough, tenacious and experienced fighter. Neil showed nothing, was too slow and completely useless in the playoffs.
Fourth three: You need to return Shor to a useful player. In the center, Haira showed himself quite well. Kassian after injury, but he is a fighter, will still be useful in the forecheck.
On the first two games, there are no questions about defense, they showed themselves well. No substitutions are needed, all the guys are experienced.
Smith today, and in the first game dragged him several times, plays well. Of course, the butterfly launched by him in overtime is offensive, but excuse me, if the team never scores in four periods, it is not ethical to kick the goalkeeper.

Tippet is archaic, but the same goes for Edmonton's entire management system. No modern considerations to even the simplest of baseline data are made. It's a collection of 'hockey men' and the Old Boys Club. Very few thought-out decisions are made by this organization: Russell is a detriment in his own zone. Barrie cannot play defence. Bouchard is this club's top prospect and they elected to bench him for the majority of the season. What had Kassian done to deserve that much term? It's a bunch of yes-men with no higher level thought at play. The Oilers are lagging in an ever-modernizing league. Nothing's changed since the late 2000's here.

We know that RNH does not work at even strength alongside McDavid and that the Oilers are far too easy to defend when Draisaitl and McDavid form the top line for the majority of the game. I don't necessarily like Kahun as our #1LW, but it's been a necessity. Who else plays there? Neal can't keep up, Benson's a minimum of 7 days out, Tippett won't play Ennis or Nygard for some reason, and none of Archibald, Kassian, or Khaira have the skill to play on that top line. McLeod could be an option but the organization has been dead-set on his playing down the middle that they likely would never entertain the idea. The Jets' active sticks have stymied the Draisaitl-McDavid pairing but the Oilers forwards were at peak effectiveness when the two played on separate lines. Nugent-Hopkins and McLeod don't have what it takes to kickstart Yamamoto on their own. Any deviation from this top-six is detrimental, both in terms of what we see on the ice and in the analytics.

I'm taking Chiasson out of the lineup because of his speed and for Tippett to optimize his powerplay: Chiasson hasn't been awful but he's not good enough to be the go-to net front presence on that powerplay when Puljujarvi makes the unit vastly superior. Speed and utility go for Kassian and Neal either: both men have been invisible. I didn't notice Kassian was even playing last night until I saw him standing around after a post-whistle scrum. Something's wrong with the man, be it physically or psychologically, and right now his place is not in the lineup. Haas has more defensive utility and penalty kill application than Kassian does. I suspect there's more offense to give from Haas right now than what we're seeing from Kassian. Until he throws a big hit or does something useful, I wouldn't have Zack in my lineup.

Shore is one of the league's least-productive forwards. He bleeds chances against. I don't mind him as the 13th or 14th forward as insurance, but I don't understand why Oilers fans think him a necessity for the everyday lineup. He doesn't particularly do anything at all except play in his own end. The Oilers need to play a solid 40+ minutes in the Jets' end in games 3 through 6.

Barrie has been sluggish since about mid-April and his game has regressed substantially. He's hesitant with the puck and his passes have been errant recently. I'd take him out strictly for a maintenance day and to give Bouchard a taste. The blueline pairings are merely optimized for a puck-mover and raw defender to exist on each pairing. Koekkoek's been refreshingly decent and I would rather leave him in the lineup, but the Oilers need Jones' ability to distribute the puck more than Koekkoek's rounded style. If Edmonton can pull ahead in this series and Kulikov needs a rest, I'd happily entertain Slater back into the lineup. If he comes at a similar price-point next season, I'd even offer him another year.

Even if EDM tries to make it a track meet, Jets have ended up on the winning side of those games this year. Oilers do their best work when 97 and 29 are split up. Somehow the Jets decided that they just knew how to play team defense when playoffs started.

Based on what I've seen from games 1 and 2, the Jets are getting by in handling the Oilers despite Edmonton's coaching keeping the forwards on a leash. Edmonton's chances are there and they're yet to put their foot on the gas. Game 1 especially.

Ehlers returning worries me a lot more now than it would have a week ago. But at this point, Edmonton needs to go all-in on its strengths and quit playing Maurice's game. Winnipeg's forwards have been great defensively with the active stick but their blueline hasn't impressed me much. The Oilers need to expose them sooner, not later.

You have a deep and thoughtful view of hockey, which is awe-inspiring. Archaic Tippett you may be right, but I dare disagree with you. In my opinion, Tippett is a modern specialist keeping up with new trends in hockey. Look at the attack of the Jets, their attack is at least as good as that of the Oilers, but at the same time in the first game there are two goals, and in the second the only goal is only in overtime. This is a tough playoff hockey in which goals are achieved with blood. Look at the second goal of the Jets in game # 1, this is a fool's puck, a combination of luck and a great shot, of course, ask Stanley to score this goal again, unlikely we'll see it. I do not think that the actions of the Jets puzzled Mack and the German. See Dry himself was not active enough to create problems for Hallebuck. I think in the third game the leaders will be fine and will score a couple of goals for sure.

When 57% of goals are tied to one man your gonna have a hard time. Still alot of hockey to play

I don't necessarily see McDavid's monstrous contribution to Edmonton's goals being a complete negative. We're still talking about 79ish goals that he didn't contribute on (almost 1.5 per game) and while the bottom-six absolutely needs to step up, if Edmonton needs to rely on it's bottom-six to win a hockey game there's an immediate problem regardless.

Draisaitl, McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, and Yamamoto being pointless through two games is more of a concern than what the bottom-six has been up to thus far. Credit to Hellebuyck, but Tippett's making the JEts' job trivial by overloading the top line while leaving the RNH - McLeod - Yamamoto or Kahun - RNH - Yamamoto lines to spin their tires. McLeod's not capable enough yet for what that line needs and RNH has never been a play driver. The power play has been drastically underperforming - I'm starting to think they actually need the drunken fans to yell shoot at this point - and splitting the top line back into its two separate units still gives both lines the best chance to score.

You are making a valid case. The most important thought that I want to say is that Kahun should go down to the third lane or to the reserve, and MacLeod should be raised to the top 6 and it will not fundamentally be the center or the edge, the main task is to strengthen the top 6 and help Mac and Draise, and in principle, I agree with you that it is more expedient to divide Mac and Dreise into different triplets. For example,
Mcleod-Mcdavid-Puljuarvi
Hopkins-Draisaitl-Yamamoto

I think Tippet is a good coach, but sometimes he is very hard to deal with. All season he refused to put Draisaitl Yamamoto and Hopkins together, one of the best lines in hockey. If we lose this year, yes I want a coaching change.