Viktor Arvidsson back in the lineup for Edmonton Oilers with Brown out
Poor play in the playoffs can be a professional death sentence when you're on about as deep a roster as the Edmonton Oilers have seen in decades.
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Play bad, and there is someone in a suit watching from up in the press box who is only too happy to take your spot in the lineup. When a team is on a roll during the most important part of the calendar, every moving part has to be contributing efficiently.
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The thing is, even playing well doesn't automatically lead to inclusion.
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Just ask Viktor Arvidsson.
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An injury to Connor Brown in Game 3 of the Western Conference final on Sunday, compliments of a high body check from Dallas Stars defenceman Alex Petrovic, paved the way for Arvidsson to return to the lineup for the first time since Game 3 of the second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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Up to that point, the Swedish product had four points (one goal, three assists) in nine playoff games. Not exactly invisible.
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Nevertheless, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch decided to make a change to his lineup, and Arvidsson found himself the odd man out.
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Hard to argue, since Kasperi Kapanen came up with the series-clinching goal in overtime to cash out Vegas two games later.
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But that still didn't mean it was an easy decision.
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'I don't want to take anybody out, it's a tough situation,' Knoblauch said. 'We mixed up our forwards and took out Arvidsson, and Arvidsson had been playing pretty well.
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'We felt that our team needed something at that moment, and unfortunately he had to be the guy. Not that there had been anything against his game, it was just a change.'
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Prior to the change, Arvidsson was part of an energetic line alongside centre Mattias Janmark and Vasily Podkolzin.
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'I expect him to pick up where he left off,' Knoblauch said. 'The lines won't be exactly the same, but when he left, Podkolzin, himself and Janmark played really well and I think they scored four really important goals in a six-game span.
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'I think in his game, he adds speed. I think this time of the year, physicality, he's not afraid of getting involved in the play. He's smaller, but he definitely is feisty.'
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Arvidsson was in the lineup for the entire opening-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, a team he spent three seasons with prior to joining Edmonton as a free agent and earning 27 points (15 goals, 12 assists) in 67 regular-season games this year.
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