Quenneville pulled a surprise move, slotting Cutter Gauthier onto the top line. The audacious gamble paid off, igniting the Ducks' offense.
On Wednesday, ahead of Game 2 in the Western Conference series between the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks, the storylines seemed to be mostly clear: Adam Henrique was ruled out on Tuesday by Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, Jason Dickinson was to be a game time decision for Edmonton, and Anaheim captain Radko Gudas, who missed morning skate with an undisclosed injury, was ruled out by head coach Joel Quenneville and to be replaced on the Ducks third line by Drew Helleson.
Pre-game warmups went off without a surprise. Dickinson didn’t participate, so Curtis Lazar and Josh Samanski made their debuts in these playoffs for the Oilers. On the Ducks’ side, lines and pairs were as expected.
After warmups, players emerged from the tunnel for the national anthems. Along the Oilers’ blueline was their top line of Matt Savoie-Connor McDavid-Zach Hyman and their top defensive pair of Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard.
Knoblauch was seemingly countering Quenneville's move to start his top line and top defensive pair, because Jackson LaCombe and Jacob Trouba took to the blueline, as did Troy Terry, Leo Carlsson, and…Cutter Gauthier?
Kreider had been stapled to Carlsson’s wing and opposite Terry for the majority of the season, and especially down the home stretch of the 82-game schedule. They were Anaheim’s most-utilized forward line, playing 390.8 minutes together at 5v5 this season, and that continued into Game 1, where they played 11:03 at 5v5 and dominated their minutes, registering 83.9% of the expected goal share.
Visiting coaches can’t play preferred matchups, as they don’t have the benefit of last change on a whistle-to-whistle basis, an integral part of playoff hockey, when details are magnified. This was a cheeky card for Quenneville to play, making a seemingly last-second adjustment to his top line, and placing his 41-goal scoring sophomore on the wing next to his franchise center and most steady veteran, who were involved in all three Ducks goals in Monday’s Game 1.
“I just think in the course of a series, the course of the season, you’re going to try different things,” Quenneville said after the game. “In a game and in a playoff series, you don’t have a lot of time. I think when you try things, you want to see how it goes.
“I thought we had a number of guys that contributed in the first game, and he didn’t get looks or touches. (So), we try to get him some, maybe more quality ice or quantity. Him scoring helped. He’s a factor with his speed.”
Perry Nelson-Imagn ImagesThis move represented one of the few “sneak attack” opportunities for Quenneville, and he pulled it out of his pocket at precisely the right time.
As a group, the Ducks played a bit hesitantly to begin their first playoff series in eight years, and in Game 1, they had 13 roster players making their playoff debuts. One of those players was Gauthier, who was perhaps the only member of the young core unable to narrow his wide eyes, leading him to play a quiet Game 1.
He only managed one shot on goal and two shot attempts in game 1, a far cry from his 12.95 shots on goal per 60 minutes (2nd in the NHL), and league-leading 25.58 shot attempts/60 that he contributed in the regular season.
Gauthier played game 1 on a line with Mason McTavish, centered by Ryan Poehling. They played a responsible brand, but were a non-factor on the offensive side of the puck. Gauthier, specifically, was severely limited in his puck touches, and his linemates were unable to find him in soft ice on the rare occasions when they did maintain possession.
Game 2 provided him an opportunity to put his stamp on this series, and he ran with it. With Carlsson and Terry transporting pucks from the defensive end, into neutral ice, and setting up cycle sequences, Gauthier was free to make clever off-puck cuts and find soft ice in dangerous locations.
“Troy and Leo are some incredible players, and they make the game of hockey pretty easy for me when I’m playing with them,” Gauthier said after the game. “They made my job easy tonight, and it was a blast playing with those two.”
Gauthier was effective on backchecks and got opportunities to gain entry as well. If this new look top line remains together for the Ducks, one can expect continued dangerous chance generation.
Quenneville identified an opening to play a rare road ace card, and the second-winningest, three-time Stanley Cup championship NHL head coach played it perfectly. His next challenge will be to ignite his depth scoring, as that aspect of playoff hockey has proven ever-important during every potential deep playoff run.