Player grades: Connor McDavid (finally) on fire, as Edmonton Oilers throttle Nashville Predators 4-2

Article content

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl led the Edmonton Oilers in a barn-burner of 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night, Edmonton’s second win of the season after three straight losses.

The top line and the rest of the Oilers finally looked like the Oilers of the 2024 playoffs.

The score was a fair and accurate reflection of the play, as Edmonton had 20 Grade A shots to 12 for the Preds, with the subset of the most dangerous 5-alarm shots 11 to five for the Oil.

Article content

Connor McDavid, 8. McDavid finally looked like Connor Effin McDavid this game. He charged in for a brilliant early breakaway shot. A moment later he won the puck late in the first and took a pass to burst into the slot for a 5-alarm backhander. He made a sleek deke and scored, putting it upstairs where momma keeps the cookies, as the legendary Edmonton skills coach Jim Fleming likes to say. Excellent hustle from him and Hyman on the empty-net goal. Contributions/mistakes on Grade A shots (GAS): Even Strength +8/-3; Special Teams 2/1

Leon Draisaitl, 9. Huge bounce back game for #29. He led the team with 12 major contributions to Grade A shots, an outstanding total. He got going as the game went along, feeding off of McDavid’s fine play perhaps. He found McD charging into the slot for a wicked shot in the first. Clever pass on McDavid’s late second period goal. Ripped his Executioner’s Shot on net early in the third. Deft pass to send in Bouchard in the third on two dangerous shots. GAS: ES +8/-0; ST 4/1

Zach Hyman, 8. Great game even if he had no points. He made a swift pass to send in McDavid for a break-in shot on the game’s first shift. Early Grade A jam play on the power play. Excellent hustle to extinguish an icing call, then set the screen on an  Ekholm point blast. Almost scored on a one-timer off a brilliant Bouchard stretch/Draisaitl drop/McDavid seam-passing play in the second. Almost scored again on a deflected pass late in the second. His hustle drew a power play in the third, then he drilled a slotter on goal off a Draisaitl blocked shot. GAS: ES +6/-1; ST 4/0

Article content

Article content

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 4. He’s one step and one read behind his usual level of play. He found some chemistry late in the game with Arvidsson and Janmark. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0/0

Viktor Arvidsson, 7. Best player on his line. Slid laterally and wrapped the puck hard on net for an early Grade A shot. He helped keep the puck in the Nashville end on Edmonton’s second goal. He set up Janmark for a break-in chance in the third. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST 0/0

Vasili Podkolzin, 6. His fierce body check led to Arvidsson’s early Grade A. A few shifts later he passed out for Derek Ryan’s one-timer. He blasted Lauzon into the boards on a hard hit, clipping the Pred with his stick and earning four minutes in penalties. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0/0

Jeff Skinner, 7. He slithered a sneaky backhander on net early in the second that Henrique jammed on net. He found the right spot at the time time in front of the net to slide in Edmonton’s second goal. He’s got a knack for that, it seems. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0/0

Adam Henrique, 7. A game defined by his smarts and hard work. He worked well with Skinner and Brown to create some dangerous shot. Gutsy shot block in the third. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0/0

Article content

Connor Brown, 7. He’s picking up right at the high level of play he demonstrated in the playoffs. Battled with fortitude and made a key early PK clearance, then did the same on Podkolzin’s second period penalty. He should have played the shot, not the pass, in allowing a point shot on Nashville’s first goal. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0/1

Mattias Janmark, 6. His second effort led to a Nashville turnover on Kulak’s goal. Got it done down the stretch. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0/1

Derek Ryan, 7. He launched a first period slot harpoon but Sauros blocked it. He won a battle kicking off the Virtuous Cycle on Kulak’s goal.  He won a crucial battle in a desperate moment half-way through the third to help clear Edmonton’s zone. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST 0/0

Corey Perry, 6. He went swift and determinedly to the net early on, drawing the game’s first penalty. Gutsy power move to take the puck to the front of the net on Edmonton’s second goal.
GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0/0

Evan Bouchard, 8. He was more of his old offensive dream machine self this game. His stretch pass set up #97 for the game’s first 5-alarmer. Caught sleepy-headed on Cole Smiths’ first period breakaway. Made a high-wire deke at the blueline to kick off the gorgeous sequence of a late first period McD 5-alarmer. Great stretch pass on Hyman’s second period PP harpoon. His keep-in led to Hyman’s 5-alarm shot late in the second. He moved up smartly to break in for two Grade As half-way through the third. GAS: ES +8/-2; ST 1/1

Article content

Mattias Ekholm, 6. High event game. His n-zone failure also contributed to Smith’s breakaway. Made a solid play to keep the puck in the offensive end on Skinner’s goal. He blocked a Stamkos bazooka on the PK, earning the respect of every beer league d-man in Edmonton. His hard slapper set up McDavid’s late second period goal. GAS: ES +4/-4; ST 0/0

Darnell Nurse, 7. Generally solid. He got stick-checked and lost the puck, kicking off the dread Sequence of Pain on Nashville’s first goal. He then engaged in some lovely team building, standing up for Podkolzin against the massive Michael McCarron, bashing the brute in the back of the neck a few times. He moved in to slam the puck on net leading up to Skinner’s goal.  GAS: ES +2/-3; ST 0/0

Troy Stecher, 6. Two solid games paired with Nurse, two wins for the Oilers. Who knew? Stecher failed to take out Forsberg’s stick on Nashville’s first goal, the Californian play (an outside shot tipped in by a forward, named for the brilliant Brett Burns-Joe Pavelski combo). Such a tipped shot is a difficult stop for any d-man, but it’s still a defensive break down.
GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0/0

Article content

Ty Emberson, 6. His best game as an Oiler. Seems to be calming down with the puck. He got sucked into the corner, making him the primary culprit on a pass out for Tommy Novak’s power play one-timer in the first. He and Kulak made an ill-advised choice to shift off the ice on an Edmonton clearance, leading to Nashville’s second goal. Not good. But it was his only super uggo play. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0/1

Brett Kulak, 7. Two goals, one big gaffe. He blocked a first period power play one-timer, a welcome event. His hard point shot found its way in through multiple screens for Edmonton’s first goal. Also caught out on the bad line change on Nashville’s second goal. Scored his second on an empty-net snipe.  GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0/1

Calvin Pickard, 8. Came up big when needed, which was often. Smartly soaked up Novak’s early power play harpoon, then thwarted Cole Smith’s breakaway. No chance on The Californian. He thwarted Stamkos and Marchessault on dangerous PP shots late in the second, no chance on the PP goal. He blocked Jankowski’s slotter early in the third, then McCarron in close, then Jankowski’s sneaky deflection, then a dangerous Marchessault slippery slider shot. He got obviously high-sticked in the face with four minutes left, but mystery of all mysteries, no penalty was called. Made a great save on O’Reilly with just under two minutes left.

Article content