Coaches eye lines as Seattle hosts Game 5 tonight

Seattle hosts Kelowna tonight with Western Conference final tied 2-2

Line matching has always been a big part of playoff hockey, especially as a series progresses.

Although Jason Smith and Steve Konowalchuk both downplayed its significance in this WHL Western Conference final — now down to a best-of-three after splitting the first four games — there is no denying that the bench bosses prefer different matchups.

As evidenced by the first two games in Kent, Wash., — also the site of Game 5 tonight — Konowalchuk and the host Seattle Thunderbirds used the benefit of last change to pit Scott Eansor’s checking line against Calvin Thurkauf and the Kelowna Rockets’ top trio.

Seattle also sent out the defence pairing of Ethan Bear and Turner Ottenbreit as often as possible, deploying a five-man unit against Kelowna’s potent line that had combined for 15 goals and 35 points in the previous series against Portland.

“At home, we looked for that a little bit,” Konowalchuk admitted upon arriving in Kelowna for a pair of midweek games. “We did look for that matchup, but we’re confident if they switch up the matchup that the guys can go play.

“It’ll be different now that we’re on the road and we’ll see how things play out.”

Indeed, when the scene shifted to Prospera Place, Smith showed his hand by starting the top lines against each other — Thurkauf taking the opening faceoff opposite Matt Barzal — and sticking with that matchup throughout.

“They’re a bigger group and they can all skate, and we thought it would be a better matchup for us at home,” Smith elaborated following Tuesday’s 2-1 loss in which Keegan Kolesar — one of Barzal’s wingers, along with Ryan Gropp — scored both goals at even strength for Seattle, including the Game 3 winner with only 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

“Throughout the game, it was pretty favourable for us and we were generating lots of chances and generating O-zone time,” Smith continued in assessing that matchup.

“We just didn’t get to the net hard enough, and when you don’t get to the net, you don’t score goals.”

The next night, Nick Merkley — who flanks Thurkauf, with Reid Gardiner — took his coach’s advice and drove the net to bury a rebound of Thurkauf’s shot off the rush for what stood up as the winner in Game 4. That was the only goal from either top line at even strength in Wednesday’s 4-2 victory for Kelowna.

Now the ball is back in Konowalchuk’s court, with Smith getting his way again on Sunday when the teams return to Prospera Place for Game 6.

“The more the series goes on, the more you know what you like and what you don’t like, and what the other coach is trying to do,” said Konowalchuk. “It changes from period to period, shift to shift. But, for the most part, everybody kind of rolled their lines in rhythm.”

At least in Kelowna, where Seattle wasn’t changing on the fly in an attempt to get Barzal away from Thurkauf.

“I wasn’t surprised, I was probably expecting it a little bit,” Konowalchuk said following Game 3. “We just played our lines and let them go with whatever matchups they wanted.”

Kelowna didn’t seem too picky in terms of which defence pairing was on the ice against Barzal.

The Rockets were rotating five blue-liners until James Hilsendager got hurt in the first period of Game 4 and did not return. Lucas Johansen and Devante Stephens saw a lot of Barzal after that, though Cal Foote and Gordie Ballhorn still took their regular shifts.

Both teams are banged-up on defence, with Bear missing Game 4 for Seattle after blocking a shot in the third period of Game 3.

Konowalchuk called Bear’s injury “day-today-ish” and Smith wasn’t any more forthcoming about Hilsendager’s status for tonight.

As for the other forward matchups, the Rockets opted to roll Dillon Dube’s line against Eansor, though Smith made a successful tweak from Game 3 to Game 4 — moving up Kole Lind to replace Carsen Twarynski, with Tomas Soustal switching from right wing to the left side of Dube to accommodate that change.

It worked in giving Kelowna’s second line more of an offensive flair, with Lind and Soustal netting the other even-strength goals in Wednesday’s triumph.

It also gave Konowalchuk and the T-Birds more cause for concern, and another move to counter going forward.

“They’ve got some good depth up front and so do we, and guys have to beat whoever they’re playing against,” said Konowalchuk. “Yeah, there’s lines you want to go against different lines, but there’s a lot of guys who can do damage on both teams.”

Seattle arguably got better results from Barzal going head-to-head with Thurkauf, considering Kelowna’s top offensive weapon, Gardiner, was held pointless in Games 3 and 4. He had three points in Game 1 and scored twice in Game 2, including the OT winner.

“It’s a totally different matchup,” said Thurkauf, who assisted on all four of Kelowna’s goals in Game 2 and leads the series with eight points (two goals, six assists) through four games.

“Eansor is more of a shutdown line. Barzal is a skill line and he’s a very good player, their whole line is top skill players. We had to watch out more in the (defensive) zone, especially Barzal — he’s always a threat out there.”