Edmonton Oilers coaches made disastrous mistake in Game 3 with defence

The Oilers significantly switched up their defence pairings at practice today, after running 5 different pairings through the course of Game 3.

The player that struggled the most by eye test and analytics was far an away John Klingberg. In 17:36 of ice time, Klingberg was a -3 and the Oilers were dominated when he was on the ice.

Nobody expected Klingberg to be as good as he was early in the playoffs, but he regained his smooth skating and puck-moving game that used to make him a top offensive defender. Against the heavy forecheck of the Panthers though, his defensive shortcomings are glaring.

The Oilers may be able to hide one struggling defender in Klingberg, but it's much harder when Darnell Nurse is also slipping in the Cup Final. In Nurse's minutes against Florida, the Oilers are only getting 34%xG share - he's handedly losing his minutes.

The Oilers coaches tried to mix around the pairs to make this group of six work, but the blue line clearly needs help - and that's Troy Stecher's music.

It was painful to scratch Stecher upon the return of Ekholm just because of how much grit and soul the diminutive defenceman played with. Stecher also posted great results next to Nurse against Dallas and Vegas, which could help his case to get back in the lineup.

The Oilers have options to take out Klingberg or dress 7 defenceman, but no matter what, Troy Stecher should be playing Game 4 against Florida.

It was a mistake not to make the change in Game 3, and now the Oilers have no time to waste. Hopefully the Oilers make the change for next time, and Stecher can help out the defence.