Player grades: Toothless Oilers thumped again, this time by Flames

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Flames 4, Oilers 1

Edmonton Oilers did a few things right in the early going on Sunday, opening the scoring in the game’s second minute to establish their first lead of the young season, which they held well into the middle frame. Twice they appeared to extend that lead only to have the long arm of the law determine otherwise, once for goalie interference and once for offside.

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After that, the visiting Calgary Flames gradually took control, dominating the Oilers physically and doing a far better job of establishing the cycle. They produced the lion’s share of dangerous chances as well, 3 of which found twine (and all of which counted).

Oilers fans have a right to be upset about a clear double standard regarding goaltender interference. The disallowed goal was a marginal call that took many minutes of discussion, a goalie interference penalty against Edmonton was thin as well, while the Flames got away with an obvious slash on Stu Skinner that was somehow missed by both officials.

By and large, though, the Oilers were bullied in their own barn, getting outhit 27-13 by the Flames including seemingly all of the biggest crunches. Both Connor McDavid (by Martin Pospisil) and Leon Draisaitl (by Justin Kirkland) absorbed heavy hits from large men, with not a lot of pushback from their teammates. The home side struggled to generate much offensively in the final 40 minutes, and when they finally did get their lone powerplay of the evening they couldn’t muster a single shot on net. Overall the better team won this game; in the end, they won comfortably.

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With the loss the Oilers fall to 0-3-0, all at home, with just 3 goals for and 15 against. Early in the season, sure, but things have gotten ugly in a hurry. In this one, not only did they lose on the scoreboard, they were second best in the flow of play. Shots were close at 29-26 Calgary, but according to Natural Stat Trick, the high danger chances were 16-9 Flames, in agreement to our own parallel count of Grade A shots (running count) which we also had at 16-9 Calgary, including 7-5 in Grade A chances.

Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 4. The Oilers pushed the puck in the right direction in his minutes but didn’t get much done, in large part due to Bouchard’s repeated failure to get his shots through. In this game it was 1 shot on net, 5 blocked, making it 4 and 19 respectively on the season. 4 shots that were stopped by the goalie, 19 by the skaters in front of him. Still looking for his first point of the season. The cherry on top was the team-high 4 giveaways. Contributions to Grade A shots (GAS): Even Strength +2/-1; Special Teams 0.

#10 Derek Ryan, 5. Scored a beautiful goal on a give-and-go with J.Skinner only to have it disallowed by offside challenge. Managed to land a decent hit on Martin Pospisil, seemingly the only Oiler to push back against the truculent Flame. Took a penalty. Played just 7:14, the only Oiler below 10 minutes. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

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#13 Mattias Janmark, 3. Played 8 minutes at even strength during which time the Oilers attempted but 1 shot, Calgary 13. A couple of breakdowns on the PK as well. Fortunate to saw off 0-0 on the scoreboard in all situations. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-2.

#14 Mattias Ekholm, 5. Played 26:00 to lead the club. Earned an assist on Skinner’s goal with a strong outside shot that produced a fat rebound. Made a big mistake on the game winner when he got pulled all the way out to the high slot in a failed attempt to block the point shot, leaving an overmatched Hyman to handle big Anthony Mantha right in front. That ended badly. Did chip in a team-high 3:36 on the 3-for-3 penalty kill unit. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-1.

#18 Zach Hyman, 3. Had a tough night on the defensive side of the puck, where he was among the culprits on 5 Grade A shots and 2 goals against. Unable to contain Rasmus Andersson in the defensive zone on the 1-1. Pulled all the way to the net front on the 2-1, where he was overwhelmed by Mantha. A couple of shots on net but not a lot happening offensively. Took a (thin) penalty for goalie interference. Now 0-0-0, -4 through 3 games. GAS: ES: +3/-5; ST 0.

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#19 Adam Henrique, 5. Oilers pushed the play when his line was out there, but they had nothing to show for it except a -1 on the 3-1 tally. Chipped in 3:25 on the penalty kill, which had a decent showing allowing 0 goals and just 3 shots in 6 minutes of work. Oilers busiest man in the faceoff circle (8/16=50%), 1 shot, 2 hits.

#24 Travis Dermott, 3. A week ago he didn’t have a contract, now he’s a top-4 defender on a (would-be) contender. Struggled in that role in this one, even as he had a few good moments. Oilers were outshot 13-5 and outscored 2-0 during his 17 even-strength minutes. Made a sliding stop in the manner of Kris Russell. Was beaten for a breakaway chance but S.Skinner dealt with that issue. GAS: ES +0/-5; ST 0.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 4. Had a strong first period in which to these eyes he was Edmonton’s physical and emotional leader, winning a number of puck battles and scrumming it up with big Kevin Bahl after the whistle. But spent too much time behind his own blueline, and virtually none on the attack. Made a massive error on the 3-1 when he abandoned his man (a.k.a. the goal scorer) to try to front the point shot, leaving Justin Kirkland unmarked right in front to tuck home the rebound. 3 shots on net but nothing dangerous. OK in 3:19 on the penalty kill. GAS: ES +0/-3; ST 0.

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#27 Brett Kulak, 4. He too has had his struggles in the early going. Was on the short end of shots and scoring chances. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0.

#28 Connor Brown, 5. Had his best moments on the penalty kill, notably a third period steal and breakaway shot, which he rang off the post. But messed up a 4-on-1 chance by being too slow to make his pass and being overtaken from behind. Made a small but important mistake when he couldn’t contain a point shot that led to a rebound and, ultimately, the 3-1. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +1/-0.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 5. Made a couple of strong defensive plays in the early going, skating hard and with purpose on the backcheck. Blocked 2 shots. But had as quiet an offensive game as I can recall, with just 1 shot attempt and 0 contributions to Grade A shots. Had a secondary assist wiped away when Perry’s tip was disallowed. Edmonton’s best on the dot with 10/13=77%. Took a penalty for lifting the stick on the backcheck seconds after very similar had happened to him, and cleared his throat with the zebra in the aftermath. Got hammered by Kirkland and appeared to bang his head off the boards, though he remained in the game. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

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#33 Victor Arvidsson, 4. Had a few decent moments, alas his night was defined by a major blunder. With his teammates attacking the blueline, he mistimed a zone entry far from the puck, resulting in a deserved, and pretty, goal being taken off the board for offside. He had nothing to do with the play at any point, just poor timing in more ways than one. 1 shot, 2 hits, 2 giveaways. The only Oiler to draw a penalty all game long, a marginal call compared to some of the ones that weren’t made. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.

#51 Troy Stecher, 4. Made his season debut but not much of an impact in 15 minutes of ice. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0.

#53 Jeff Skinner, 7. Responded well to an opportunity to play with McDavid/ By far the best of the Oilers, he scored the lone goal by finding the soft ice on the weak side and pounding home a rebound. Made a beautiful pass to Ryan for what should have been the 2-0 (the Arvidsson offside). Rang a wicked drive off the crossbar with 5 minutes left that might have made the late stages a lot more interesting. 6 shots, 9 shot attempts and 2 hits, all of which led or co-led the Oilers. Also laid on the lumber a time or two and managed to avoid detection. GAS: ES +3/-2; ST 0.

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#74 Stuart Skinner, 5. Took a wicked hack on the back of his leg mere seconds after Perry’s goal had been disallowed for bumping the goalie, but somehow both refs missed the open-ice infraction. Had a spirited discussion with the zebras after the period, made his case strongly but with no joy. Held the Oilers in the game through a poor second period (Grade A shots 7-1 against), delivering some outstanding saves in the process. Alas, his bubble burst in the final frame when he punted out a pair of big rebounds that were quickly converted for the decisive goals. 28 shots, 25 saves, .893 save percentage.

#90 Corey Perry, 5. Finally, NHL officials have figured out what they should say to Corey. His apparent goal on a mid-air deflection from the edge of the crease was disallowed when it was ruled his skate just inside the blue paint had impeded Dan Vladar from making the save. Had a couple of decent passes but no (official) shots on goal. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 4. Oilers spent much of his time in the o-zone but got little done. 0 shots on net off his own stick. Landed a couple of hits but passed up a couple of opportunities to do some damage. His failure to clear the defensive zone was a big factor in the 3-1. GAS: ES _0/-1; ST 0.

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#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 4. Reassigned to the second line with Draisaitl. Didn’t get a lot done. His lone shot attempt came after a turnove rjust 7 seconds after Calgary took the lead, but he couldn’t bury. Oilers epnt the majority of his ice time in their own end of the sheet, getting heavily outshot in the process. Coughed up the puck twice during the 6-on-5, the second of those leading directly to Connor Zary’s empty netter that sealed the deal. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0.

#97 Connor McDavid, 4. A couple of good moments including a secondary assist on the goal, a fine rush late in the second, and a sizzling spin-around backhand late in the third. 5 shots, 2 hits. But had some rough moments on the defensive side of the puck. Got walked in the slot by Andersson on the 1-1. Hemmed in the d-zone on the long sequence that resulted in the game winner. He’s now 613th and dead last in the NHL in plus/minus, the only skater in the league at -5. Oilers need far, far more from their linchpin. GAS: ES +3/-3; ST 0. 

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