The Edmonton Oilers made up for a horrendous first period penalty kill fiasco with an explosion of elite attacking play in the second, scoring five goals in the frame, going on to a 5-2 win over the Ducks of Anaheim.
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In the end, the Grade A shots were 14 for Edmonton, 16 for the Duck, with the subset of more dangerous five-alarm shot nine to five for Anaheim (running count).
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Vasily Podkolzin, 7. Quiet first period, explosive in the second. Charged the net and took up space on Edmonton’s 2-2 goal. Almost scored himself off a Drai slot pass a few shifts later. Won a battle and screened the goalie on Edmonton’s 3-2 goal. He took Drai’s impossibly brilliant pass, charged in on the breakaway and ripped a nasty shot top shelf where Gramma keeps the cookies to make it 4-2.
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Connor McDavid, 8. One goal, two assists
Connor McDavid, 8. One goal, two assists. Great at even strength, part of the PK nightmare. He, Kapanen and Bouchard were all charging the puck carrier and all got beat on passes on the 1-0 Ducks power play goal. Beauty of a backhand pass to find Kapanen for Edmonton’s 2-2 goal. Part of the 10-man, 68 second virtuous o-zone cycle on the third Edmonton goal. He ripped a high slotter by a shell-shocked Dostal to make it 5-2 late in the second. He let Granlund sneak past him for a five-alarm PP slotter early in the third.
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Leon Draisaitl, 8. Four assists. A couple of turnovers on the first power play, one of them leading to a Ducks odd-man rush. He stopped the clearing pass on the boards and set up Bouch for Edmonton’s first goal. He charged in and almost tipped in the tieing goal off a McD pass a few seconds later. Great pass to Podkolzin in the second for a dangerous shot. He then launched one of the best passes of his career, a 110-foot monster saucer to send in Podz on his 4-2 breakaway goal.
Jason Dickinson, 6. Quiet game overall. But he won a key board battle in the second that kicked off a virtuous cycle leading to several great scoring chances for the Oilers in a 66 second sequence of o-zone pressure that ended in Bouchard’s 3-2 goal.
Kasperi Kapanen, 7. He pounced on a loose
Kasperi Kapanen, 7. He pounced on a loose puck, rushed up ice, and got the first Grade A shot of the game, then was tripped in not good fashion into the end boards. He failed to get out the puck a few shifts later, leading to two five-alarm shots down low on Levi. He and the other Oilers PKer were caught way up high and running around on the second Ducks power play goal, which is starting to bear a striking resemblance to the Dallas Eakins’ failed swarm. It’s literally handing goals to the opposition. Stopped a PK rush with a diving pokecheck, then bulled his way to the net for a PP shot late in the first. Launched a PP harpoon on net for Edmonton’s second goal.
Trent Frederic, 5. Some good moments, but generally a quiet game.
Alex Formenton, 4. He blew the zone in the first, leading to a five-alarm shot off the post and Oilers penalty in the subsequent chaos. Needs to do more to stick with the Oilers.
Owen Michaels, 4. He failed to cover for Ekholm in the d-zone slot after Ekholm did that weird thing and rushed way out to the point on the PK, allowing for a 5-alarm net front tip on Levi. He allowed Washe’s shot off the post in the first. He won a faceoff leading to a wicked Ekholm slapper. On plus side he was 11 wins, six losses on the dot.
Mathieu Joseph, 6. Part of the PK chaos
Mathieu Joseph, 6. Part of the PK chaos in the first. Solid enough otherwise, with a good shot block in the third.
Max Jones, 5. Part of a quiet line, but no major mistakes.
Isaac Howard, 5. Quiet game, but nothing bad. He took a late penalty to stop a Ducks scoring chance.
Josh Samanski, 3. He took a couple penalties, which in this game, with this Oilers PK, was a high-risk activity.
Mattias Ekholm, 6. Solid and safe game
Mattias Ekholm, 6. Solid and safe game. He launched a nasty slapper on Dostal in the second.
Evan Bouchard, 9. He’s killing it in the NHL this season. Two goals, one assist and good defensive play, at least at even strength. He ripped a shot through a multi-play mob to make the score 2-1. Excellent pass to Drai, who set up Podz for a five-alarm shot half-way through the second. Hammered in a beauty of a slapper for the third goal.
Connor Murphy, 5. Solid hit on Mintyukov in the first. A few penalties, but overall solid enough if you don’t count his penalties, which I do. He won a key slot battle against Granlund late in the third. He took a late tripping penalty to give the Ducks a 6-on-3 power play.
Ryan Shea, 6. Solid at even strength, not
Ryan Shea, 6. Solid at even strength, not so much on PK. The first goal bounced off him to Sennecke, who slammed it in the net. He moved in and ripped a Grade A shot in the first. Shea was part of the 2-0 penalty kill crap show, with players getting easily beat as they over-aggressively went for the puck, leading to a 2-0 down low and a second Ducks goal.
Ty Emberson, 7. Another solid game. He kept a clean sheet at even strength, not one mistake on a Grade A shot against. He knocked Klepov off his feet with a hit in the first. He almost scored on a second period slotter, but just missed the net.
Jake Walman, 5. High event game. Up and down with good and bad moments. He got beaned with the puck, taking him out of the play that ended up in two five-alarm shots in the first. He took a holding penalty a moment later. Some great puck possession leading up to the third Edmonton goal.
Devon Levi, 9. Huge game. He kept his team in the game with a brilliant first period. All kinds of great saves in the first, but his team abandoned him on the PK. Great pokecheck to break up a dangerous Ducks net thrust early on, then fought off a difficult net-tip on Anaheim’s first power play. Little chance on the first Ducks goal, which was a crap show of Oilers defenders running around and getting beat on passes. Great stop on Killorn and Sennecke in the slot after Kapanen’s first period turnover. Massive stop on Gauthier’s second period PP harpoon. Huge stop on Granlund on Ana’s early third PP. Another huge stop on Granlund’s tip off Sennecke’s outside shot with eight minutes left.
