Manny Malhotra threw his lines in a blender to start the second period last night, and Elias Pettersson landed between Jake DeBrusk and Linus Karlsson.
The rest of the shuffle: Liam Öhgren with Paul Cotter and Brock Boeser, then Arshdeep Bains with Marco Rossi and Jonathan Lekkerimäki.
Drew O'Connor, Max Sasson and Brendan Gallagher made up the fourth unit. Nothing was left untouched.
It didn't save the night. The Canucks lost 9-7 at home to Edmonton, two nights after beating the Oilers 6-5 in overtime.
Kevin Lankinen allowed eight goals on 20 shots before giving way to Leevi Merilainen.
The backup stopped 10 of 11 the rest of the way.
Some of the new looks produced. Rossi scored twice and added an assist, while Pettersson finished with a goal and two assists.
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Manny Malhotra's patient blueprint meets its first real test
Boeser had a goal and an assist, a timely boost for a winger whose trade stock is under the microscope.
Cotter also had a goal and an assist, and Bains chipped in the same. Depth scoring wasn't the problem.
The back end was. Zeev Buium, fresh off his eight-year deal, went -3, and Filip Hronek finished -2 despite two assists.
Shuffling everything in game two cuts against the patient blueprint the front office sold all week. Malhotra was told to build a foundation, and foundations don't get rebuilt every 20 minutes.
It's like rearranging the furniture in the middle of your own housewarming party.
Calgary visits Saturday, then Vegas on Sunday. That back-to-back will show whether the blender lines stick or get poured out.
The front office promised not to talk about wins and losses yet. Giving up that many at home will make that promise a lot harder to keep.
Was Manny Malhotra right to blend his lines in the second period?
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