Tyler takes a look at the Coyotes' tendencies and attempts to predict who Dave Tippett might send out against the Oilers offensively-minded lines:
Tippett is a power versus power guy, at least with the Oilers last year. In both games, he matched up his best two offensive lines against the Oilers’ best two offensive lines. He juggles his lines a bit but generally seemed happy to run the Doan line and the Hanzal/Vrbata/Boedker line at the Richards and Kopitar lines against Los Angeles the other night. I’d guess that the Doan line sees RNH and that Vrbata and Boedker go at the Gagner line.
It's a bit harder to predict, however, given the injuries the Coyotes are currently struggling to overcome. In addition to Mike Smith's move to the IR, the Coyotes also have Martin Hanzal, Rostislav Klesla, struggling to stay in the lineup and Matthew Lombardi is out. Five For Howling's Carl Putnam talked about it:
"[WIth Hanzal out] Tippett had Alex Bolduc, who had been playing wing on the 4th line, centering the first line with Mikkel Bodeker and Radim Vrbata the other night. It was actually a smart move. He didn't screw up other lines by doing so. If Martin Hanzal returns my guess is Bolduc moves to 4th line center. Kyle Chipchura is a great 4th line wing, but not a center."