Player grades: Oilers dominate early, hang on late to edge Canucks 2-1 - Edmonton Journal

Minggu, 31 Oktober 2021

Player grades: Oilers dominate early, hang on late to edge Canucks 2-1 - Edmonton Journal

Author of the article:

Bruce McCurdy • Edmonton Journal

Connor McDavid put on another fabulous show in Vancouver Saturday night. Photo by Bob Frid /USA TODAY Sports

Oilers 2, Canucks 1

Edmonton Oilers bounced back from their first defeat of the season in the best way possible, playing a dominant first period and an overall strong two-way game in Vancouver to beat the Canucks, 2-1 in regulation.

The Oilers had the better of play at 5v5, but were only able to solve a red-hot Thatcher Demko with the man advantage. The visitors scored on both of their powerplay opportunities to open a 2-0 lead through 2 periods, then held on down the stretch as Vancouver pulled their goalie with 4 minutes to play and threw everything including the kitchen sink at the Edmonton net the rest of the way. Mikko Koskinen had the answers, including a pair of brilliant saves during a hairy 6-on-4 powerplay to keep the 2-goal cushion. Alas he was beaten in the dying seconds to lose his shutout even as the game was effectively won already.

In a game where score effects ruled late, the two clubs sawed off in “Corski” and “Fenski” (as hilariously recorded by Natural Stat Trick in their otherwise orthodox game report). The Oilers outshot the Canucks 34-30 despite allowing the last 8 shots of the game, and held a significant 16-7 advantage in Grade A scoring chances as logged here at the Cult of Hockey .

Player grades

#2 Duncan Keith, 6. A generally strong game with a couple of good shots in the first period, one of which rang the crossbar. Had one breakdown in the late going but Koskinen had the answer. 6 blocked shots.

#5 Cody Ceci, 6. Very solid positionally and held his own or better in a significant number of puck battles. Moved the puck effectively. 3 shots, 2 hits, 1 block.

#8 Kyle Turris, 5. One defensive miscue when he was late to cover a wraparound play, and one major contribution at the other end when he set McDavid up for a good look during a double shift by #97. Also played a role in the build-up to Foegele’s powerplay marker. 3/5=60% on the dot.

#10 Derek Ryan, 6. Edmonton’s third line had a solid night and Ryan played his part, firing 3 shots on net and posting a strong 8/13=62% on the faceoff dot.

#13 Jesse Puljujarvi, 7. Held off the scoresheet for the first time all season Played a strong defensive game, tracking the puck hard and winning a number of battles along the walls. Drew a penalty that led to an Oilers goal. Rang the iron on a 10-bell chance set up by McDavid, when he had half the net to shoot at but cut it a bit too fine. That was his best chance to extend his career-high 6-game point streak.

#14 Devin Shore, 5. Played a team-low 7:32 including just 2 shifts in the final period after Dave Tippett shortened the bench. Played physically with 3 hits and had a nice pass to send Kassian in on a partial breakaway, but had a little chaos in the defensive end of the sheet.

#16 Tyler Benson, 5. Took a couple of hits to make the play, and dished out a couple of his own. Some good passes other than one that went awry in the defensive slot. Had a brief 2-on-1 opportunity with Draisaitl but fumbled the puck, completely gassed at the end of a 1:45 shift. Got an opportunity to play in his old stomping grounds of Vancouver, where he played his entire junior career including three years as the Giants captain. Maybe one of these days he will also get a chance to play in his home town of Edmonton, but to this point all 9 of his career games have been on the road.

#18 Zach Hyman, 6. Played his part on an effective first line. He’s a faster skater than generally credited and really showed those wheels on a rink-length dash that nearly turned nothing into something. Made a key defensive play to swat down and control a dangerous aerial pass. Played 1:50 of the 4v6 penalty kill near game’s end and got the job done. Something of a culprit on the one Vancouver goal which he watched from the blue line rather than collapsing into the slot to help out.

#19 Mikko Koskinen, 8. Bounced back hard from Wednesday’s bad outing, delivering a rock-solid performance in what turned into a goaltending duel. Held his ground in moments of pressure, even as Vancouver missed the target with their best looks throughout much of the game; perhaps the massive goalie they were trying to beat had something to do with that. Did his best work in the late going after the Canucks went to 6 attackers, making a pair of gigantic stops off J.T. Miller, then Brock Boeser second later. Unlucky to lose his shutout in the dying seconds after a bad bounce and some soft defensive coverage, but much more importantly he got the win, his 4th in 5 appearances since Mike Smith got hurt. 30 shots, 29 saves, .967 save percentage.

#20 Slater Koekkoek, 4. Played 12 minutes on the third pairing and recorded the rare clean sheet on the Event Summary with 0 shot attempts, hits, blocks or anything else. Somehow was not charged with a turnover on a failed scoop clearance that went straight to Boeser who immediately tested Koskinen. Oilers were outshot 10-5 on his watch.

#22 Tyson Barrie, 5. His shot shares were identical to his partner Koekkoek’s. Did muster a dangerous shot through a screen, and also hit the post with a well crafted shot from a difficult angle. More importantly he had a solid defensive game, winning a few key battles including an excellent 1v1 stop of the elusive Elias Pettersson in open ice. Burned for 0 Grade A chances.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 7. Oilers’ first pairing was comfortably their best, with Edmonton dominating possession to the tune of ~70% in all shot shares. Nurse led the d-corps in ice time (25:02), shots (5), shot attempts (9) and hits (3), while earning a primary assist on Foegele’s powerplay goal. Made a dazzling move in the neutral zone when he suddenly reversed his tracks up the boards to lose his would-be checker and lead the attack. He did however take a penalty in the late going which caused some nervous moments, even as Nurse had some cause to bark at the official after being taken down earlier in the sequence.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 6. Not his best night, especially on the faceoff dot where he went just 5/19=26%. His line spent too little time with the puck as a result. He did however play a strong defensive game, using his giant stick to advantage to cut out a couple of dangerous passes while committing zero major mistakes on chances against. And, oh yeah, scored the game winning goal on the powerplay.

#37 Warren Foegele, 7. Opened the scoring with a rare second-unit powerplay goal, planting his feet at the edge of the blue paint and powering a rebound shot past a diving Demko and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Otherwise played a sound two-way game on a strong line which carried the play most of the night.

#44 Zack Kassian, 6. Led the charge physically with 3 heavy hits, drawing the ire of Vancouver d-man Luke Schenn but refusing multiple invitations to drop the mitts. Probably a wise decision given the bad outcomes of his last two scraps, both of which landed him on IR. Besides, on this night Kassian was needed on the ice, where he played 12 solid minutes. Had a great chance on a partial breakaway but was harassed by big Tyler Myers and didn’t get a lot on his shot.

#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 6. A fairly quiet night offensively, which included 0 shot attempts. Did have one good look off a fine Draisaitl setup but was unable to pull the trigger. But did some fine work on the other side of the puck. Cranked Ekman-Larsson with a solid early hit. Won a battle to start an Oilers possession that resulted in Keith’s shot off the crossbar. Most importantly, drew a penalty that led to the game-winning powerplay goal.

#75 Evan Bouchard, 7. His ascension to the first pairing has been the pleasant surprise of the young season. The puck was moving north when he and Nurse were on the ice, with Edmonton outshooting Vancouver 14-6 during Bouchard’s nearly 24 minutes at even strength. Got half a minute on the second powerplay unit and made it count, earning an assist on Foegele’s powerplay goal. Perhaps was a bit too passive on Boeser’s goal with 7 seconds to play but didn’t get a lot of help either on the broken play.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. Became the first NHLer this season to reach double digits in assist, when he recovered a deflected puck in the slot and instantly fed it Draisaitl in the right circle for the finish. His 10th apple of the season and 6th on Oilers’ devastating powerplay. 3 shots, 2 hits, 1 block in 20:17 of ice time.

#97 Connor McDavid, 9. Held to less than 2 points for the first time all season, even as it was likely his best game to date. His body of work included the customary dazzling skating and puck control, 9 shots on net, a phenomenal pass that Puljujarvi rang off the post, a great defensive stop against Bo Horvat that may well have saved a goal, and the biggest hit of the night. Schenn appeared to have McDavid in the trolley tracks, but the Oilers star braced himself, absorbed the heavy collision and dropped the 225-pound defender on the seat of his pants. 7/11=64% on the dot. Terrific shot shares of 15 for, just 6 against, and 7 contributions to Grade A shots compared to 0 against. The Canucks couldn’t contain him; only Demko stood between #97 and another big night.

Recently at the Cult of Hockey

STAPLES: Oilers lines coming together, all except one

McCURDY: Corski, Fenski and the Oil’s 4th lineski

LEAVINS: Player grades from Oilers home loss to Philly

STAPLES: The Oilers score some bargains on their forward ranks

McCURDY: Darnell Nurse and his impressive transition game

Follow me on Twitter @BruceMcCurdy

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2021-10-31 08:37:30Z
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Minggu, 31 Oktober 2021