Article content
Ducks 0, Oilers 6
Advertisement 2
Article content
Not exactly a hockey masterpiece at Rogers Place on Saturday, but a fun April Fools’ Night all the same as the Edmonton Oilers finished off a 4-0-0 week with a lopsided 6-0 win against the overmatched Anaheim Ducks.
Article content
The Oilers came out sluggish, not surprising after a pair of intense wins over Las Vegas and Los Angeles on Tuesday and Thursday, but received some key early saves from Jack Campbell before finding their skating legs and their shooting arms. After opening the scoring late in the first, the Oilers asserted their dominance in the second period by firing 24 shots on John Gibson and stretching their lead to 4-0. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl rounded out the scoring in the third, the former with his 62nd snipe of the season, the latter completing his hat trick in style with his 50th. Campbell minded the store right to the end to earn the shutout, Edmonton’s second in a row.
Advertisement 3
Article content
With the win the Oilers formally clinched their ticket to the playoffs, the fourth season in a row they have qualified for the dance. Fair to say they did it in style.
The Oilers outshot the Ducks 45-36 in the wide-open affair, and held more convincing 27-13 margin in the Cult of Hockey‘s tally of Grade A shots, including 11-5 in the subset of 5-alarm shots (running count).In our recent custom, we will include each skater’s count of contributions to Grade A shots (GAS), both for and against and in all manpower situations, at the end of each player comment.
Player grades
#2 Evan Bouchard, 7. Quiet but efficient. Earned an assist on McDavid’s third-period beauty, kept things tidy at the other end of the ice. GAS: +2/-0.
#5 Cody Ceci, 5. Struggled to move the puck in his own end at times, especially during a difficult opening 20. Settled down thereafter. 21:17 TOI including 1:50 on the penalty kill. 0 shots, 1 hit, 2 giveaways. GAS: +1/-5.
Article content
Advertisement 4
Article content
#10 Derek Ryan, 6. 11 quiet minutes, including 1:43 on the PK. His lone shot was a dangerous tip from the slot. This after already being felled in the slot by friendly fire, but lived to fight another day, and went right back to the danger zone, so +1 for bravery. GAS: +1/-0/
#14 Mattias Ekholm, 8. Another superb game from the bearded Swede, refelcted in his boxcars of 0-2-2, +3. His point shot was tipped home by Hyman for the game winner. He chipped in on McDavid’s around-the-world beauty by posting up at the near-side post and occupying 2 defenders and the goalie while McD circled the wagons. Then he made a strong d-zone play and head-man pass to Draisaitl for the shorty that brought the hats down. Strong in defence, including a team-leading 2:53 on the penalty kill. GAS: +5/-0, truly outstanding for a d-man.
Advertisement 5
Article content
#18 Zach Hyman, 7. Another solid performance with 1-1-2, +2, with both points coming from his office around the edges of the blue paint. Tipped home the ice-breaker late in the first period to secure an entirely undeserved lead at the first intermission, and Edmonton cruised from there, His assist was the furthest thing from a slick pass, but well-earned all the same as he crowded the crease, took some friendly fire off the stick of McDavid and saw it bounced over to Draisaitl who tapped it home. GAS: +5/-0.
#19 Devin Shore, 6. Played a shade under 10 minutes centring a fourth line that controlled its part of the game, even as it couldn’t break through with a goal. Zero issues defensively. GAS: +3/-0, setting up each of his linemates for a dangerous shot and producing a third off his own stick.
Advertisement 6
Article content
#21 Klim Kostin, 5. A couple of questionable decisions to pass the puck from good shooting position, but did manage a dangerous drive on his only shot in the third. Led the Oilers with 4 hits. GAS: +1/-0.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 8. Another dynamic game from the big rearguard. Scored his 11th of the season on a good shot through Yamamoto’s screen, in the process achieving a new career high with his 42nd point of the season. Made a fine cross-seam pass to Draisaitl for a one-timer that nearly produced #50. A couple of minor defensive issues, but put out a few fires along the way. Led the d-corps in ice time (22:57), shots (7), blocks (2) and hits (2). Was shoved into the path of a high hard blast and was very fortunate to come away from it unscathed. GAS: +4/-3.
Advertisement 7
Article content
#26 Mattias Janmark, 5. The most effective player on his line, which on this night wasn’t a high bar. Made a fine stretch pass to Foegele for a breakaway. Chipped in 1:35 on the kill. GAS: +2/-0.
#27 Brett Kulak, 5. Skated well, but had a few issues handling/clearing the puck. 3 giveaways on the night. GAS: +0/-1.
Advertisement 8
Article content
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 10. A brilliant performance highlighted by a hat trick including his 50th goal of the season. His third 50-goal campaign, but the first to be achieved on home ice. Scored once each at even strength, on the powerplay (his 30th PPG of the season), and finally goal #50 with a wicked wrist shot on the penalty kill. Had 14 shot attempts, 9 of them on goal, and also chipped in a staggering 9 passes that led to Grade A shots. A team best 9/14=64% on the dot. Edmonton held a staggering 28-10 advantage in shot attempts during his 16 minutes at evens, with 20 of those shots on goal. +4 on the night, and might have had an assist or even 2 with a more generous official scorer.
Now has achieved 50 goals and 50 assists in the same season 3 different times, and was on pace for same in his MVP season of 2019-20 before COVID shut it down with 11 games still on the slate. To put that in perspective, the feat has only been accomplished 1 other time league-wide in Draisaitl’s 9-year career… that being by Connor McDavid in 2022-23. I hope Oil fans realize how good we have it. GAS: +15 (!)/-4.
Advertisement 9
Article content
#36 Jack Campbell, 8. A terrific effort from the beleaguered netminder, who decisively put a stop to his streak of 7 straight starts with at least 4 goals against by shutting the door entirely against the Ducks. Created some of his own challenges with some sloppy rebound control, especially in the first period, but to his credit he responded with the second save each time… and on one memorable occasion, the third, fourth and fifth saves as well. Grew increasingly confident as the game went on, with much better rebound control being a key part of that. 36 shots, 36 saves, 1.000 save percentage. Duck Soup!
#37 Warren Foegele, 4. Struggled on a third line that spent way too much time in its own end, in large part due to sloppy puck management. Foegele’s 3 giveaways were part of that, notably a pair of consecutive turnovers inside his own blueline in the last minute of the first. Did get a breakaway late in the second but couldn’t cash. Oilers were outshot 11-4 during his 10½ minutes at even strength. GAS: +1/-0.
Advertisement 10
Article content
#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 7. Held off the scoresheet but played a key role on the Oilers’ best line with Draisaitl and Kane. A buzzsaw on the puck, his 3 takeaways on the night led both teams. Added 4 shots and a block. His high screen of Gibson was a key element of Nurse’s goal. GAS: +7/-4.
#72 Nick Bjugstad, 4. The big man wasn’t moving well on this night and seemed a step behind the play at times. The only forward without a shot, but 3 giveaways and 5/14 on the dot. Oilers were outshot 11-3 on his watch. Did chip in to a couple of Grade A shots by the second powerplay unit. GAS: +3/-1.
#73 Vincent Desharnais, 5. Low-event, which fits his job description. Blocked 2 shots, created his usual roadblock in front of Oilers’ net. GAS: +1/-1.
Advertisement 11
Article content
#91 Evander Kane, 8. Has found excellent chemistry with Draisaitl and Yamamoto in recent games, with both big men being in “beast mode” more often than not. Had Drai’s back in the first when the Oilers star was on the receiving end of a questionable hit, in the process taking just 2 minutes in the sin bin to Frank Vatrano’s 4. Made a nifty pass to Draisaitl for the 2-0, and both he and #29 were involved in setting the table for Nurse’s 3-0, officially unassisted. 5 shots on net, 2 hits, 1 shot block. Also chipped in 2:11 on the PK to lead the forward corps. GAS: +10/-1.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. A relatively quiet night for the red-hot forward, though he did manage a point, his 97th of the season, on McDavid’s show-stopper. GAS: +4/-3.
Advertisement 12
Article content
#97 Connor McDavid, 7. Good not great, though with a couple of great moments. His 62nd of the season was one such, a thrilling sortie around the offensive zone where he controlled the puck for 6 seconds before sifting a well-placed shot passed a screened Gibson and just inside the stick-side post. Also earned an assist on Draisaitl’s powerplay goal. 5 shots on goal, 3/11=27% on the dot. GAS: +5/-3.
Advertisement 13
Article content
Recently at the Cult of Hockey
STAPLES: Big Boyz Brigade doing some heavy lifting for Oilers
LEAVINS: Player grades in big win over Los Angeles
McCURDY: The Oilers have come a long way since their last duel with the Kings
STAPLES: The Oilers stomp the Golden Knights
McCURDY: Oilers win a scrambly affair in Arizona
Follow me on Twitter @BruceMcCurdy
https://news.google.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?oc=5
2023-04-02 08:54:47Z
1891959906
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Join the Conversation