Player grades: Oilers take over game but can’t beat Hill, fall 1-0

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Oilers 0, Golden Knights 1

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Player grades

For the third time in their three-game road trip, Edmonton Oilers allowed the first goal of the game, coincidentally on the second shot against each night. This time it cost them.

The Oilers bounced back to score 4 goals in Utah and again in Colorado, but on Tuesday night against their nemesis Vegas Golden Knights, they couldn’t find a way to score even one as that 0-1 deficit on the big scoreboard held all the way to the end. Ivan Barbashev took advantage of a fortuitous bounce to pot that lone goal, and the Oilers never did get that bounce at the other end of the sheet.

Adin Hill was more like a mountain in the Vegas cage. He got quite a bit of help from Edmonton shooters who flubbed several great chances, especially in the middle period. In the third, the power duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl was reunited and generated massive pressure, outshooting the Vegans 16-2 in the frame, but no joy. By night’s end the Oilers held a 66-44 edge in shot attempts and a 28-16 advantage on the shot clock. Our own video analysis at the Cult of Hockey showed similar ratios, with the Oilers having 12 Grade A shots to 5 including 4-2 in 5-alarm shots (running count). Let’s just say if they played a best-of-seven series of games like this, the Oilers would surely win that series. But it wouldn’t be a sweep.

It was a hard-fought game with a large focus on defence, a stick in every lane. Both teams played clean hockey, corroborated by a pair of officials who didn’t detect a single infraction all night long. It was just the fifth game in NHL history — and the first since 1944! — to feature zero penalties and one or fewer goals.

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Given that the one goal was unassisted, the summary was sparse indeed with just a single name entered on it.

Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 6. Was the victim of the game’s decisive bounce, when he slid to block Barbashev’s pass only to have the puck carom right back to the Vegas player for the quick, and ultimately decisive, shot. We didn’t so much as charge him with a defensive error on the play, but so it goes some nights. Played 26:36 to lead both teams, and made some fine plays along the offensive blueline. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): +5/-1. (We will dispense with our usual even strength/special teams splits in this report given there were in fact no special teams.)

#8 Drake Caggiula, 4. Played just 5:44. Had a bad turnover just inside Edmonton’s blueline that led to a 5-alarm chance, but Skinner had his back. Did manage to fire 1 decent shot at the good end. GAS: +1/-1.

#10 Derek Ryan, 5. Played just under 9 minutes and did his best work without the puck, leading the forwards in hits (2) and takeaways (2). GAS: +0/-0.

#13 Mattias Janmark, 6. Oilers third line had a strong game, dominating possession and shot sharess while giving up virtually nothing. In Janmark’s 13½ minutes the Oilers fired 19 shot attempts to just 8 against, including 8-3 in shots on goal. Helped set up a couple of dangerous situations. GAS: +2/-0. 

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#14 Mattias Ekholm, 6. Played 25:28. His signature moment was a gutsy shot block in the middle frame which not only snuffed a Vegas chance but led to a dangerous one by Edmonton in the counter attack that followed. GAS: +3/-0.

#19 Adam Henrique, 6. Solid performance with 6 shot attempts, 2 of them on goal, and a splendid 8/11=73% on the faceoff dot. Lost a battle that led to a dangerous chance, but was all around it at the good end. GAS: +4/-1.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 7. Had a strong game in all aspects, leading the d corps in shots (4), blocks (3) and hits (2) in 22:17 of ice time with multiple defensive partners. Led the entire team in expected goal share at 82%. GAS: +1/-0.

#27 Brett Kulak, 6. Kept things clean defensively for the most part, splitting time  between Nurse and Emberson and switching sides in the process. 2 shots, 3 blocks. GAS: +1/-0.

#28 Connor Brown, 5. Did a lot of things right but finishing plays was not one of those things. 7 shot attempts, just 1 of them on goal. The 1 was a one-timer from the slot early in the third that forced a good stop, but was twice credited with a “flub” (now an official shot category!) and fired another backhand shot over the crossbar from the slot. Any one of the 4 could have cashed. Credit to him for getting to the dangerous spots but the execution when there left plenty to be desired.

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#29 Leon Draisaitl, 5. Attempted to redirect Bouchard’s pass in the high slot back to Ekholm but it didn’t click, instead sending Barbashev and Jack Eichel away on the 2-on-1 that produced the game’s only goal. Made a number of terrific backchecks later in the game, though he encountered one more adventure in the middle frame when the puck was checked off his stick and right on goal. Pushed hard in the third but nothing doing. 11/17=65% on the dot. GAS: +2/-2.

#42 Kasperi Kapanen, 5. Played 15:50 which included 15:19 with McDavid. Had Draisaitl on his other wing in the third. Not a bad opportunity for a guy who was on the waiver wire a fortnight ago. Alas, the results didn’t come on this night, though he had a couple of looks. GAS: +2/-1.

#49 Ty Emberson, 6. Played 14 minutes of reliable hockey, with the Oilers owning a 7-3 shot advantage in that time. GAS: +1/-0.

#51 Troy Stecher, 5. Fairly quiet game until he got drilled in the ear with a deflected shot in his first and only shift of the third period, and spent the rest of the night in the locker room. GAS: +0/-0. 

#53 Jeff Skinner, 7. Played perhaps his best game as an Oiler on a solid third line with Henrique and Janmark. Was a constant threat to score and rather unlucky not to do so. All 3 shots off his own stick were Grade A, and he made 3 further contributions to others by linemates. Also made an outstanding defensive play to strip the puck from a marauding Vegan in the Edmonton slot. GAS: +6/-0.

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#74 Stu Skinner, 6. A trifle unlucky on the goal, had to play the pass across and when it bounced back to the passer he was unable to get set for the quick shot that found a hole. As in Colorado on Saturday, he slammed the door thereafter to keep his team in the game until the end, but this time got no goal support whatsoever. His best stop was a glove robbery of Tomas Hertl from point blank range. 16 shots, 15 saves, .938 save percentage. 

#90 Corey Perry, 5. Played on the fourth line with Ryan and Caggiula, but got the push up the line-up quite a few times and even saw some shifts with McDavid and Draisaitl in the third, as Knoblauch gave both Kapanen and Perry a few shifts with the power duo. Alas, all 3 of his shot attempts were off the target, including a great second-period chance at the edge of the crease which he flubbed. Created a screen that helped RNH’s golden chance in the late going. GAS: +2/-0.  

#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 5. Very quiet night, especially by his lofty recent standards. 0 shots on net, 1 hit. GAS: +1/-0.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. His moment came with a minute and a half to play when he won a battle at the edge of the crease by lifting Alex Pietrangelo’s stick to corral the rebound of Bouchard’s shot, then slam his own drive on net from just 7′ out. Alas, Hill saved his best for last in somehow keeping it out with his right pad and paddle. 

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#97 Connor McDavid, 7. Kind of like his team, he had a bit of a slow start but came on strong as the night went along. Really came to life in the third after being reunited with Draisaitl, buzzing all over the o-zone and firing all 4 of his shots on net. Played 10:00 of that period and 24:58 on the night. Still had enough gas in the tank to make a fantastic backcheck to thwart Eichel’s last-minute empty net chance, stealing the puck off the Vegas star and launching yet another rush.

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