Dave Tippett makes some MAJOR line changes before rematch against the Canucks.

The Edmonton Oilers suffered a defeat last night at the hands of Western Conference rivals the Vancouver Canucks last night and now head coach Dave Tippett is making some significant changes to his line up before facing off against those same Canucks for the second time in as many nights. 

The most obvious change here is going to be the fact that Tippett has split up the organizations top two stars with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl no longer on the same line together. It has been a topic of much debate given that many believe each player should be driving his own line instead of having a heavily front loaded top line, however now it seems like Tippett wants to see for himself what each man is capable of delivering without the presence of the other. To be clear this does not mean that the two men will not be used together at all tonight, only just that Tippett will not be playing them together at 5 on 5 to start the game. The head coach could of course choose to change that decision at any point during tonight's game should things not go as well as he likes. 

Here is the full line up for the Edmonton Oilers tonight with the adjusted lines.

Forwards:

Neal-McDavid-Archibald

Khaira-Draisaitl-Gagner

Nygard-Sheahan-Chiasson

Granlund-Haas-P Russell

Defensemen:

Klefbom-Larsson

Nurse-Bear

Jones-Benning

Goaltender:

Koskinen

It is also worth noting that the Oilers announced they would be down several players this evening with the team reporting earlier today that two players would be out due to injury and another for personal reasons. The Oilers also made an emergency call up in response to that announcement and that combination of factors may have played a role in Tippett choosing this night as the one in which he wants to trot out some different looks for his team. Additionally the Oilers are playing in the second game of a back to back against an opponent that they lost to just hours ago, which will also give Tippett a chance to see how his line combinations fairf against the same players his old lines faced off against the night before.