I would have liked to see Yakupov get an extra few shifts on the ice, but if you look at the ice-time break down, it reveals a much more complicated story:
http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20142015/TH020078.HTM
Yakupov played 16 shifts with an average of 40 seconds each. This is almost identical to Joensuu and is comparable with Purcell (19 shifts, 44 seconds avg), Arcobello (19 shifts, 36 seconds average), Draisaitl (17 shifts, 49 seconds avg)*, Perron (19 shifts, 47 seconds average), and even Pouliot (20 shifts, 37 seconds average).
* I don't have a problem with Draisaitl getting a push on the PP. You can't have him warming the bench the whole game and if he's on a 9 game tryout it's important for us to assess what we have.
The forwards noticeably getting a push were the 4-93-14 line, plus Gordon and Hendricks. When you consider that:
1. The Oilers were in a close game, and the #1 line was shadowing Stamkos, who played nearly 20 minutes;
2. The actual breakdown of Yak's icetime; only 3 shifts in the first, but we were on the PK for 4 minutes, and this increased to 6 and 7 shifts in the second and third periods. The #1 line appears to have the # of shifts taken increased in the third period when the game was on the line, which makes sense, so there's evidence Eakins shortened his bench, which is absolutely a defensible decision.
3. Positional/situational factors which could influence a coach's decision, such as the need to have two centres on the ice, who Tampa Bay is putting on the ice and how we're line matching, etc.
It appears that, while Yak's TOI looks paltry compared to the other forwards, he was being used as frequently or nearly as frequently as most of the other forwards on the team, save the obvious ones. Again, I would argue that Yak could have gotten more PP time, or maybe would have benefited from an extra couple of shifts, but to call it a "brutal" decision doesn't appear supported by the information we have available to us.
Eakins' post game comments also reflect a more favourable opinion of Yak and an increased willingness to put him on the ice. As the season continues, I think we'll see Yak more and his production should benefit as well.
Just my two cents!