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TSN Edmonton Bureau Reporter

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Some thoughts ahead of Game 2 between the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks:

Should the offensive expectations on Connor McDavid change if Ryan Kesler is going to remain strapped to his back for the entire series?  

This isn't the average shadow job seen day-to-day in the NHL, Kesler is fully velcrowed to McDavid. It opens up ice for other players, but makes life miserable for McDavid, who admits he has to find a way to battle through it. Is it reasonable to expect that he can still produce anywhere near the offence he did during the regular season against this extreme tactic?

If the team continues to win, he'll be just fine with his limited chances and will continue to try and break through and draw a few more penalties in the process

Carlyle's Conundrum 

Randy Carlyle has a decision to make heading into Game 2 against the Oilers. Should he continue to hard match Kesler against McDavid at 5-on-5? Considering the outstanding job Kesler did on McDavid through the first two periods of Game 1 the answer might seem simple, but Carlyle's strategy came at a price and it's one he may have to reconsider paying moving forward.  
 
Ryan Getzlaf got just five offensive zone starts in Game 1 (Faceoffs in the offensive zone to start a shift). This isn't nearly enough for the Ducks' most dangerous offensive player.  

This happened because Todd McLellan found a way to use Carlyle's hard-match strategy against him. McLellan put McDavid's line on the ice for more defensive zone starts (six), forcing Carlyle to send out Kesler for an offensive zone faceoff that Getzlaf would normally take. Offensive zone faceoffs are in Getzlaf's wheelhouse and McLellan is forcing Kesler to stand in it instead. 

Kesler had eight offensive zone starts in Game 1 against the Oilers, compared to six in the entire four-game series against the Flames. This is a major shift in the deployment of his main defensive weapon by Carlyle.

The flip side of this is that McDavid, the league's only 100-point player this season, had just one offensive zone start in the series opener. That's far from ideal, but a neccessary evil for McLellan to employ this strategy.
 
When the Ducks were down a pair of goals, Carlyle was forced to abandon the hard match and roll Getzlaf out in the prime offensive situations, where he played great. This seemed to be the Ducks most dangerous stretch of the game. While the Oilers found the bounce that swung the game in their favour, Carlyle had to notice how much better the offence flowed when he took the handcuffs off of Getzlaf. So why not start that way in Game 2 and give his star forward the chance to dominate earlier?  
 
The problem is, by doing so he frees up McDavid in the process, and the Oilers captain is one of only a few players on the planet that might be able to outduel a full-throttle Getzlaf.  
 
Hence the Carlyle conundrum 
 
McLellan can get away with doing this because Leon Draisaitl is killing it in the faceoff circle in the defensive zone (3-for-3 in Game 1, 74 per cent in playoffs).

With Draisaitl handling these duties and Getzlaf sitting on the bench for prime offensive zone starts, McLellan has changed the equation.  
 
Mark Letestu's power-play performance has been impressive this season, as Frank Seravalli detailed here. It's interesting to note that he's sitting firmly in the seat the Oilers had planned on giving Jordan Eberle. The trigger man on the No. 1 unit was Eberle's spot to lose at the start of the season, but he failed to show the shooter's instinct that position requires. 

Eberle has never had a strong one-timer and prefers to handle the puck when he receives a pass rather than unload it. Letestu brought a shoot-first mentality to the spot and has held it with great results for the bulk of the season. Eberle is on the second unit with Maroon, Nugent-Hopkins, Sekera and Caggiula.    
 
Eberle had a quiet Game 1 and has yet to make a significant impact in these playoffs. McLellan tends to protect Eberle when asked about him, citing a pick up in defensive awareness, but he's a $6 million offensive player and his job is to produce. So far, he's come up short even with the team winning.

General manager Peter Chiarelli is observing closely. How Eberle performs in these playoffs may determine whether or not he remains in the Oilers' long-term plans.

Ducks planning shuffle on defence?
 
Randy Carlyle paid a visit to the Ducks' bench during their optional skate Thursday and had a chat with Korbinian Holzer. 

With news that Kevin Bieksa was doubtful for Game 2, my guess is Carlyle was letting Holzer know not to work himself too hard and burn out his legs in case he is needed.

Holzer played three games in the opening round. Sami Vatanen is believed to be close, but Holzer is the healthier option right now. 

Optional sakte for both teams.

Maroon McDavid Draisaitl
Lucic Nugent-Hopkins Eberle
Caggiula Letestu Kassian
Pouliot Desharnais Slepyshev

Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russel
Nurse Benning 

Talbot 

Ritchie Getzlaf  Eaves
Cogliano Kesler Silfverburg
Rakell Thompson Perry
Wagner Vermette Shaw

Fowler Montour
Lindholm Manson
Theodore Holzer*

Gibson

*Vatanen could also play, Carlyle wouldn't commit.