June 10, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

After a Game 2 double overtime loss, the Edmonton Oilers decided to change up their defence pairings for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers. The changes didn’t exactly pan out as the Oilers had hoped during their 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Panthers in Game 3.

Related: Callouts, Standouts, and Shoutouts: Oilers fall to Panthers in Game 3 beatdown

As much as the eleven powerplays and the three powerplay goals against hurt the Oilers in Game 3, they only scored one goal. A big reason for that was because the Panthers forecheck was effective at preventing the Oilers from exiting their own zone with control of the puck. The Oilers played right into the Panthers’ hands with the way they were trying to escape the pressure. They were trying to force pucks past Panthers forecheckers along the wall on the strong side, and it didn’t work. They need to get the puck to the weak side, and they need to do it faster than they did any time they tried to do so in Game 3. The most important change they can make is to make their defence unit able to move the puck more quickly and efficiently. The changes they made for Game 3 didn’t work, but at least they’re trying to address the most important issue.

Mattias Ekholm returned to the lineup in the last game of the Western Conference Final. He bumped Troy Stecher out of the lineup. Stecher got his chance in Game 4 of the second round, and he played quite well. The Oilers won five out of the six games that Stecher has appeared in during these playoffs, and the team played well defensively in those games. These were the pairings during that stretch:

Jake Walman and John Klingberg emerged as a tremendous puck moving pairing, and they weren’t giving up much the other way. Kulak and Bouchard played well together. Nurse seemed to play his best hockey when paired with Stecher. They were a pairing for a large chunk of the regular season. Stecher was spelled by Kulak at times to shoulder some of the additional responsibility of second pairing minutes; but Stecher and Nurse were fairly good together in the regular season, and they have played great together in the postseason.

Mattias Ekholm returned to the lineup in the last game of the Western Conference Final. Stecher himself said that Ekholm is a superior hockey player, and he had no problem coming out of the lineup to make way for Ekholm. While it was a relief to get Ekholm back, bumping Stecher from the lineup created a problem: Nurse’s best partner was forced to the press box.

These were the pairings for the last game of the Western Conference Final and the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final:

Ekholm and Bouchard have basically been stapled at the hip since Ekholm’s arrival in 2023, and they are great together, so that was a natural decision. Walman and Klingberg were really effective, so it made sense to keep them together. That left Nurse to play with Kulak. They had a five-on-five expected goals for percentage of 57.79% in 339:22 of ice time during the regular season, but they also got outscored 14-18 (43.75%) in that time. That goal share should start to even out over time based on that xGF%, but there isn’t a lot of time left for that to happen. The fear with that pairing was that they would continue to be outscored. They have not been on the ice for a goal either way yet, but their xGF% has dropped to 36.34% in this series so far. The most obvious problem with that pairing is that Kulak has to play his off side when paired with Nurse. That limits Kulak’s ability to move the puck out of the zone. Nurse already has some struggles with quick puck movement, so having a partner whose puck moving abilities are limited isn’t ideal.

These were the pairings for Game 3:

Essentially, Klingberg and Kulak just swapped spots. These pairings have some merit on the surface. Nurse usually fares well with a puck mover, and that’s what Klingberg excels at. Walman and Kulak can both play their off side, so neither one had to be stuck on the right side the entire night.

It took all of one shift for the Nurse – Klingberg pairing to get scored on in Game 3. Brad Marchand capitalized on a scramble after a defensive breakdown. That was the only goal that pairing was on the ice for, but it was one of the three five-on-five goals that Klingberg was on the ice for on Monday night. Ekholm was his partner on one of the other goals against, and Walman was his partner on the other one. 

He and Ekholm only played 1:12 of five-on-five time together, so there isn’t enough of a sample size there. The goal they were on together for was Sam Bennett’s breakaway goal, which was equal parts a giveaway by Vasily Podkolzin and a poor decision by Ekholm to cut into the zone for the pass when he was the last man back because Klingberg had pinched.

The other goal was a play where Klingberg ran into the referee along the wall as he was being pressured from behind by a Panthers forechecker. Klingberg got knocked down by the referee, one pass got made, and the puck was in the back of the net.

Perhaps there was a bit of misfortune in Klingberg’s 0-3 result at five-on-five in Game 3, but he also led all Oilers with 0.54 expected goals against. The fact that he was third on the team with 0.49 expected goals for prevented his overall xGF% (47.65%) from being the worst on the team. It should be noted that Klingberg led all Oilers in xGA in Game 2 (1.79) as well. Klingberg has been outscored 1-5 at five-on-five through three games of the series. It’s hard to win with someone bleeding goals against like that.

Klingberg is a tremendous passer and his edge work is great, but he’s not the most fleet of foot. Klingberg can maneuver his way out of trouble in one-on-one situations with space using his edge work, but that isn’t a situation that occurs all that often against the Panthers’ aggressive forecheck.

A lot of fans are calling for Klingberg to be taken out of the lineup for Stecher. I’m in favour of that move. Stecher is not the passer that Klingberg is, but Stecher is quicker and he moves the puck just fine. He is also seemingly the best partner available for Nurse. I would recommend these pairings for Game 4:

Both Walman and Kulak could take shifts with Nurse if it turns out that the game is too fast or physical for Stecher, but I think Stecher would handle himself just fine. He could make life easier on Nurse, who can be an incredible player when paired with the right partner. It would be nice to see Stecher get to appear in a Stanley Cup Final game after playing so well earlier in the playoffs and after he missed all of last year’s playoffs with an ankle injury.

Klingberg has played well for most of the playoffs and his comeback from his injury is a nice story, but the Game 4 is critical for the Oilers. They need to make the decision that gives the team the best chance to win, and I believe that means a difficult conversation with Klingberg and a chance for Stecher.