Oilers coach Knoblauch called out for harsh benching and bizarre lineup decisions

The Oilers have shortened their bench on defence during the playoffs so far, but they took the forward lines to the blender as well.

Shortening the bench on defence can become usual in the playoffs, and Ty Emberson is the easy candidate to sit out. He's the only rookie defender in a deep veteran group, and Knoblauch uses him accordingly.

Emberson played 5:31 in the first period, and finished with only 7:05 of ice time - meaning he played less than 2 minutes from the second period to the end of overtime.

Benching Emberson makes sense, but it seems like a move that could've been reserved for a more high-stakes game. Playing aggressive to take an early series lead has merit too though, and that could be Knoblauch's idea.

On forward however, the Oilers coach was throwing out practically random combinations. After a rocky start in the first, Knoblauch threw out the lines that brought them 5 straight comeback wins.

The Oilers began reverting back to old combinations, including splitting up McDavid and Draisaitl. Some of the odd combinations looked lost in their own zone, leading to Vegas getting back in the game.

It's entirely bizarre to abandon the pairs that have brought so much success so quickly, and the actual lines themselves seemed questionable. Adam Henrique centering Leon Draisaitl on a line was absurd.

At the same time, this has become the standard for Coach Knoblauch. The Oilers coach has chronically mixed up the lines in his tenure, arguably helping the team adapt to any situation. However, last night his moves didn't look quite as sharp as usual.