The Edmonton Oilers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers] continue to shuffle their lines, seeking chemistry as they navigate a tough road trip that could become disastrous with another loss. Edmonton will take on the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, and the dynamic duo (that hasn't been so dynamic) is back together. Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now posted the lines from Tuesday's morning practice and Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are back together. Neither McDavid nor Draisaitl have played terribly well over the past several games. Draisaitl has four goals, but took much of the responsibility after another bad loss following the Detroit Red Wings game. “It’s me that’s certainly not feeling it right now," he said. He added, “The game changes when your top guys are feeling it, and they’re seeing it, and they’re creating offence. It changes the entire dynamic of the group. I just have to take a look in the mirror and figure out something to be better.” McDavid hasn't been himself, either. With no goals on the season, he's being criticized (as much as any fan dare criticize the best player in the world) for his repeated decisions to defer and not shoot when given the opportunity. McDavid is clearly frustrated. Results and Takeaways: Poor Execution And Missed Chances Doom Oilers in Detroit [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/results-and-takeaways-poor-execution-and-missed-chances-doom-oilers-in-detroit] He called the team [https://x.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1979678187878789464] "not connected enough" and "out of sync". He didn't quite take the responsibility like Draisaitl did, but it's clear he's frustrated with his own game. He said the power play and 5-v-5 lack flow, and they need to improve. He said, "I didn't like that we didn't seem to get any better today." COACH LETTING THE STARS GET EACH OTHER OUT OF THEIR FUNK The question when a team like the Oilers struggle is whether to put the stars together or keep them apart. The logic behind keeping them together is that they are too good not to break out of their funk and they can use each other to get going. The reason not to do so is because neither player seems to be feeling it, which drags down the entire team. If they're on the same line and the coach is playing them more in an effort to dig the team out of repeated holes, they're being overworked, while other players see their ice time go down. Knoblauch is clearly going with the first option: playing Connor and Leon together. He's putting Vasily Podkolzin on that line to crash and bang and retrieve pucks. The Edmonton Oilers will put their dynamic duo back together versus the Ottawa Senators Photo by © Wendell Cruz Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/0c66f10d-8c1e-44b4-a792-47aab592f0bd.jpeg] The Edmonton Oilers will put their dynamic duo back together versus the Ottawa Senators Photo by © Wendell Cruz Imagn Images The ideal result of this move is that if McDavid and Draisaitl can find some chemistry, that could open the floodgates to their respecitive offense. That seems to be the hope here versus an Ottawa team that has trouble keeping the puck out of their own net. The downside here is that without McDavid scoring and Draisaitl going for even-strength scoring, the Oilers are running out of ideas. While it might be early to call this a must-win game, it's starting to feel like it for the Oilers. The Senators are leaking goals, they're without their captain, and the Oilers are loading up their top line. OTHER OILERS NEWS: The Oilers will be without Kasperi Kapanen, who was injured in the Detroit game when he tried to lay in a hit and missed. It is being reported that he could be out for some time. David Tomasek is back in the lineup after sitting a game. Jake Walman will make his debut this season, returning from a nagging injury that forced him to miss the opening of the season. He'll be on a pairing with Darnell Nurse. Stuart Skinner gets the start in goal after a few solid performances. He allowed a bit of a weak one against Detroit when he stood up as a puck was slowly coming to the net. It's hard to argue that was his fault, but some fans are doing so anyway. Another strong game will help limit some of the doubts fans still have. Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/] team site to never miss the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/game-day] coverage, and more [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/players]. Add us to your Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwn-DfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] favourites, and never miss a story.
