Player grades:Oilers can’t solve Oettinger or their special teams woes

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Oilers 1, Stars 4

Edmonton Oilers were the better team for 39 minutes on Saturday afternoon, dominating puck possession, shots and scoring chances, but failed to convert any of them into actual goals. Dallas Stars netminder Jake Oettinger put on a show, stopping everything he could see and also everything he couldn’t see.

The game turned in that 40th minute when the Oilers took their only penalty of the game. Within seconds it was 1-0 Dallas. Hard to believe that the Oil held the Stars without a powerplay goal for six games in the playoffs, but on Saturday couldn’t do so for six seconds. Indeed, just 2.9 seconds elapsed from puck drop to red light, and that was pretty much the hockey game right there. Edmonton’s PK currently languishes at 55%, last in the NHL, and their 9 goals against in 20 would-be kills are 3 more than any other club as of this writing. At the same time, their single powerplay goal in 15 opportunities ranks 30th in the league, exacerbated by an 0/2 showing in Big D.

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The Stars took over play in the final frame, as the increasingly frustrated Oilers started to turn the puck over and make coverage mistakes in the aftermath of those turnovers, resulting in 2 Dallas goals in 70 seconds to seal the deal. The visitors had some late pushback and managed to break Oettinger’s shutout bid in a 6v5 scenario, but an empty netter the other way moments later restored the 3-goal margin.

By the stats the Oil had the better of the play, recording 73 shot attempts to 52 while officially outshooting the Stars 31-24. Our own video analysis at the Cult of Hockey had Edmonton with a 15-10 edge in Grade A shots including 7-4 in 5-alarm looks (running count). The Stars, however,+ had the better of both the goaltending and the bounces, the combination of which decide oh so many hockey games including this one.

Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 5. Oilers dominated possession and shot share on his watch, but a few bobbles crept into his game, especially along the offensive blueline. Had a poor sequence on the 2-0 in which he lost his footing after an Oilers turnover, then twice failed to cut out passes on the subsequent rush. Mustered 5 shots on goal with just 2 blocked, by far his best splits of the young season, and made a couple of fine passes along the way. But the powerplay he specializes in failed to score again, and mustered just 1 Grade A look in 4 minutes. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +4/-3; Special Teams +1/-0. 

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#10 Derek Ryan, 5. Did his job on the fourth line, sawing off his 10 minutes 0-0, with a hit, a takeaway, and 4/6=67% on the faceoff dot. No shot attempts, however. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.

#13 Mattias Janmark, 4. One of 4 depth forwards without so much as a shot attempt. Got reassigned to his old line with Henrique and Brown in the third but was unable to stabilize it. Although it wasn’t his man who potted the 3-0, Janmark was likely in the best position to make a defensive play on him but was a bit slow on the read. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.

#14 Mattias Ekholm, 6. Very involved offensively, with his best effort being a dangerous wraparound shot. 5 shots on net. Did have a few issues on the defensive side of the puck, including getting burned by a slot pass on the 2-0. GAS: ES +5/-3; ST 0.

#18 Zach Hyman, 7. The best of the Oilers on this day, Hyman was all around the blue paint but unable to solve the red-hot Oettinger. By Natural Stat Trick‘s assessment, he personally fired 5 of the 11 dangerous shots credited to the Oilers as a team. Still pointless on the season, even as he’s been all around it for the last 3 games. 4 shots to lead the forwards, and 11 attempts to lead the team. GAS: ES +6/-1; ST 0.

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#19 Adam Henrique, 2. A truly wretched performance by the usually reliable vet, both by eye and by number. Played just 12:20 but was on the ice for 3 goals against in various manpower situations. Unable to get to the point man on a lost faceoff on the penalty kill, he wound up in weird position almost touching skates with his d-man; worse, he got the toe of his stick on Matt Duchene’s shot from the high slot and tipped it past Skinner. Made two mistakes on the 3-0, first coughing up the puck with a bad pass in the o-zone, then with some bad coverage at his own end of the sheet. His stats were eye-popping, and not in a good way: 0 shot attempts, 6 (six) giveaways, 1/9=11% on the dot. During his 11 minutes at even strength, the Oilers recorded a Corsi of +7/-25, with an expected goal share below 8%. Only positive was his 3 blocked shots. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST +0/-1.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 5. Had a strong start to the game, bossing his own zone and clearing the front of the net. Made a fine stretch pass to McDavid for a Grade A shot. 8 shot attempts, though only 1 on net. “Also in frame” on a couple of goals against, though we didn’t judge him to be directly at fault on either. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0.

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#27 Brett Kulak, 5. Quiet game outside of one excellent defensive stop which may well have prevented a goal. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.

#28 Connor Brown, 4. Had similarly wretched shot shares as Henrique (Corsi of +7/-24 at 5v5), and just a single shot attempt (which missed the target), but didn’t bleed opportunities defensively. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 7. Oilers dominated possession and shot shares with their first unit on the ice at 5v5 (Corsi 31-10), though no joy. Was involved in numerous scoring chances but no finish. Just 2 shots off his own stick, including the 1 that got the Oilers on the board with 2:22 to play. Owned the dot with 14/18=78%. GAS: ES +8/-0; ST +1/-0.

#33 Viktor Arvidsson, 5. Another quiet game as he finds his way with a new club. Did make a terrific defensive play to stuff what seemed to be a sure goal, though in the end it didn’t matter as Dallas had taken a penalty on the play. 2 shots, 2 giveaways, 1 takeaway. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#49 Ty Emberson, 6. Growing increasingly comfortable, he made some good stops defensively, moved the puck OK, and activated on offence when appropriate (3 shots, though nothing dangerous). Landed the best hit of the game when he crunched Evgenii Dadonov with a solid open-ice hit in the neutral zone. Drew a penalty. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0. 

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#51 Troy Stecher, 4. Played 20:20 on the second pairing. Took Edmonton’s only penalty when he dove into the skates of Jason Robertson behind the icing line, leaving the ref no choice but to make the call on a marginally dangerous play. It proved costly when the Stars scored immediately. Also beaten by a centring pass on the 3-0. Had nothing happening offensively with 0 shots, 0 contributions. GAS: +0/-1; ST 0.

#53 Jeff Skinner, 5. Chased the game for two periods on the ineffective Henrique-Brown line, but started to make his presence felt when switched to a trio with RNH and Arvidsson in the third. 3 shots on net, even as he saw his modest 4-game point streak come to an end. Had a good chance seconds after Draisaitl made it 3-1, but got tripped in front of the net, leading to the empty net goal the other way. Lucky to survive a puck that came flying into the bench and appeared to clip him on the ear. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0.

#74 Stu Skinner, 5. Played an OK game, even as he was the second best goalie on the ice on this occasion. (Critical Oilers fans would do well to recall him winning the same head-to-head duel in last season’s Western Conference finals.) Took a lot of heat for the 1-0 that changed the game, though my take is it was deflected past him by a teammate. Beaten twice more late in the third as the Oilers began to take risks to generate offence. Made a handful of good saves, and by my assessment wasn’t the culrpit on any of the goals against, though he did have a couple of sloppy moments on non-scoring plays. 23 shots, 20 saves, .870 save percentage.

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#90 Corey Perry, 4. No shot attempts, no hits, and about as much impact on the game. Did make a fine pass to Podkolzin for a good look. Played 12:21. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.

#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 6. Among the most proactive Oilers forwards with 5 shot attempts (2 on net) and 2 hits. Smoked Ilya Lyubushkin in the early going. Made a nice solo rush from deep in his own territory. His bull in a china shop style of play stands out on this team. Reminds me some of Klim Kostin, a useful player. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0. 

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 5. Had one of those games that makes me wonder why bother even keeping stats. Specifically, a sensational 13/15=87% in the faceoff circle, very possibly the best of his career at the discipline. Alas, he was taken to school on the 1 and only penalty kill faceoff, leading directly to the 1-0 goal that turned this game on its ear. A bit slow to pull the trigger when the opportunity presented itself; he was one of six forwards without a single shot on net, with 3 attempts that were blocked and another that missed the target. Had a solid final frame on the 53-93-33 line. Earned the primary assist on Draisaitl’s goal. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +0/-1.

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#97 Connor McDavid, 6. Had a lot of jump in the early going but nothing rhymed. A couple of great passes to Hyman in the slot. 3 shots on net of his own, and delivered a team-high 3 of Edmonton’s paltry 10 hits. Drew a penalty. But made a pair of mistakes on the 2-0, first turning the puck over in the o-zone, then coasting on the backcheck where he had a great view of Duchene scoring just a few feet in front of him. Earned the secondary assist on Draisaitl’s late consolation goal. GAS: ES +6/-3; ST +1/-0.

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