It's gonna be tough, the roster is just flat-out limited in what it can do because of deficiencies on the blue line and in goal coupled with this group of forwards that has shown that they cannot regularly produce. The only thing they can do, really, is the opposite of what they've been trying to do.
They are currently trying to defend their problems and overprotect the goaltender and use their forwards and their speed to try to counter and score 5 on 5, but the system is too weak offensively and they are just trying to turtle games they are not good enough to protect.
Honestly, I think what they need to do is just open up the offense and they need to re-evaluate the lines. They either need to get PLD going or bury him. He needs wingers who will hustle for him, be where he needs them when he needs them, and do all the work to get the puck to him when he is gliding off in the corner, lol. There is a reason why he and Laffy are minus forever. I love Laffy but he shouldn't be a middle 6 winger right now, especially attached to PLD. I think they need to tie PLD to players like Fiala, Byfield, Turcotte, Moore, etc. Wingers that are going to go to work, get him the puck, and be there for his passes. He is always outpassing Laffy or whatever spare part he is put with, then he sulks and you can blatantly see his inner monologue in his body language like "well f***, he missed an easy pass, or whatever f*** me I thought he would be there but he is off doing god knows what, it's not my problem - I'm just gonna glide back to the bench because I did my part"... They might even benefit from just moving forward in time and going with Byfield, Kopitar, and Danault as the centers down the middle and moving PLD to the wing for the rest of the year.
They also need to open up the system. They aren't going to hold Edmonton and outscore them on special teams or the counter-rush. They have run and gun forwards and defensemen. They just need to go for the 5-4 win as the team lacks toughness and they just need to embrace it at this point. They need to be quick, use their speed, develop chemistry and maintain glued lines, and become a better passing team.
In all likelihood, they are gonna get bounced in the first round and everyone knows it. What they should do is just absolutely swing for the fences and go for the miracle play rather than sit back and let it play out as expected.
They need to use Lewis like they are using Kaliyev, stack those top 3 lines, and push for as much offense as they can.
