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Stuart Skinner came up big, first outplaying Cam Talbot in regular and over-time, then in the shoot-out, as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2.
The Kings dominated the first period, scoring twice. The Oil were superior in the second, scoring twice.
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The game went to OT, then won in the shootout as Derek Ryan scored to win it.
In total, the Oilers had 11 Grade A shots, the Kings 13, with the subset of most dangerous 5-alarm shots being Edmonton five, Los Angeles eight. Grade A shots on in on average 25 per cent of the time, 5-alarmers 33 per cent of the time.
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Connor McDavid, 8. Eight major contributions to Grade A shots, one goal and one assist in 25:52. He was bottled up in the first period, then failed to cover Trevor Lewis in the slot on a 5-alarm shot. But in the second period he got Edmonton’s first Grade A shot, hitting the crossbar on the power play from a tight angle. A moment later, taking the same shot, he threaded in Edmonton’s first goal off of Cam Talbot’s head. He then drove hard to the net on a rush and almost scored. Next he won the puck in the corner and set up Drai for a successful slot shot. In the third he broke in hard and almost beat Talbot yet again, first with a quick shot, then on the rebound. He scored in the shoot-out. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +4/-1; Special Teams +4/-0
Zach Hyman, 5. Not his best game. McD set him up in the second for a wide-open slot shot, but Hyman failed to score. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-0.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. He did strong work on the PK early on. He won a n-zone battle to set up McDavid’s rush chance in the second. In OT he saved the day with a huge stop on Kopitar’s wrap-around try. He scored in the shootout. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +01-0.
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Leon Draisaitl, 6. He was caught puck-watching on his first shift, allowing in Anze Kopitar for a 5-alarm backhand shot in the slot. He took a bad penalty early in the second, bashing Gavrikov. He got open in the slot in 4-on-4 play, took a pass from McDavid and harpooned in a goal to tie up the game. He almost jammed in McD’s slot pass on the power play in the third. He won a puck and almost jammed in a rebound shot with a few seconds left in the third. He got away with a great hook on Trevor Moore in OT to prevent a 5-alarm shot. He led the team with six shots. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +3/-0.
Ryan McLeod, 4. He looked a bit out of sorts against the tough-checking Kings early on, was a bit better in the third. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.
Warren Foegele, 4. He stole a puck on the PK early in the second and fired on net, a rare early sign of life from the Oilers. He got beat by Dubois on a rush chance late in the second. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +0/-1.
Derek Ryan, 8. Good game even before the shootout. Solid work on the PK and some good hustle at even strength. He won the game with the Oilers were a shootout goal. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.
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Connor Brown, 7. Excellent effort, not bad results. He got off a hard high slot shot, then a Grade A one-timer, in the third after his line worked the Kings with hard forechecking. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-1.
Mattias Janmark, 6. Good work on the PK and fine hustle all game. He won a puck at the blueline in the sequence where Brown got off his Grade A. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-1.
James Hamblin, 6. Finds a way to help out. He charged back hard to break up a dangerous Kings rush in the first. He almost cashed in Lavoie’s board crashing shot at the side of the net in the third. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +1/-0.
Raphael Lavoie, 5. He followed McDavid to the net in the second and almost jammed in a rebound goal. The refs gave him a ridiculous penalty when Kempe ran into him, and that marked the first time I’ve seen Coach K get upset on the Oilers bench. He got caught out of position on an L.A. 5-alarmer early in the third. But followed up with a hard-working shift where he drilled two shot on net. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-0.
Adam Erne, 5. He came to the defence of Ryan after #10 took a dirty hit from Doughty. Quiet game otherwise. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.
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Mattias Ekholm, 6. Another strong game, but he made an ill-advised pinch late in the second to give up a 2-on-1 but Quinton Byfield missed the. net with his shot. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-1.
Evan Bouchard, 7. Moved the puck well in 29:01 of icetime. He got beat by Grunsdtrom behind the net on the 5-alarm shot by Lewis in the first. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-0.
Cody Ceci, 7. Quiet game, good game. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +0/-1.
Darnell Nurse, 6. He got caught out of position on Kempe’s goal, not playing it cautious enough at the offensive blueline. Was otherwise hard, tough and effective. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST +0/-0.
Vincent Desharnais, 4. He struggled in this one. He got beat out of the corner early on, leading to one Grade A and one 5-alarm shots in bang-bang fashion. A moment later he and Ekholm allowed a pass out to the slot to Kevin Fiala, who ripped in the first L.A. goal. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST +0/-1.
Brett Kulak, 7. Another good game from the veteran. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.
Stuart Skinner, 9. He held his team in the game early on, then won it for them in overtime and the shootout. He gave up a big rebound but made an even bigger save off Kopitar early on. A moment later he sprawled to thwart Dubois on a wide-open net. He had little chance on Fiala’s one-timer goal. He thwarted a 5-alarm shot in a from Lewis. Kempe has a great shot, but his scoring snipe was far enough out that Skinner might well have stopped it. Huge save early in the second on a Doughty-to-Kopitar slap pass and tip shot, then another one on a rebound that fell to Lizotte in the slot., and yet again on a Doughty one-timer early in the third.
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2023-12-31 06:00:00Z
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