Ducks 2, Oilers 3
For the second time in under a week, the once-lowly Anaheim Ducks gave Edmonton Oilers all they could handle. Once again the Ducks bounced back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game and very nearly took the lead with 3 minutes to play.
That’s when Leon Draisaitl and friends took charge and produced the 59th-minute game winner, with the Big Diesel starting the play by staving off two checkers along the wall to kick off the cycle, then finishing it with a terrific shot from the slot.
It was a high-energy affair though more than a little sloppy for stretches. The Ducks outshot the Oilers for the second straight time, this time by a 29-26 margin, though Edmonton held the advantage in most other departments including shot attempts 62-53; high danger chances 12-6; and expected goals, 3.3 to 2.1. Our own video analysis at the Cult of Hockey had Edmonton with 16 Grade A shots to Anaheim’s 11, including a 6-4 bulge in the highest danger, 5-alarm shots (running count). Note the 3:2 ratio of the last three counts, in exact accord with the actual game score.
It was the seventh consecutive game that the Oilers managed to get exactly 3 goals past actual goaltenders, with a single empty netter vs. Utah raising the final goal count to 4 on one occasion. Edmonton’s record in those 7 games? An impressive 5-1-1.
Player grades
#2 Evan Bouchard, 5. Notched his 200th point in career game #303 with a routine assist on RNH’s powerplay tally that opened the scoring. Coughed up the puck under duress on the 2-1 when he couldn’t handle Brown’s grenade along the offensive blueline leading to Brett Leason’s breakaway goal. Fired a couple of his trademark Bouch Bombs but struggled to hit the target. 5 shot attempts, 5 giveaways in a team high 24:23. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +2/-3; Special Teams 0.
#13 Mattias Janmark, 5. Filled in at centre with a defensively-sound, low-event game. His line with Kapanen and (primarily) Hyman carried play for the most part. 3/5=60% on the faceoff dot. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.
#14 Mattias Ekholm, 5. Won some battles, lost some battles, held his own. Played 24:17. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.
#18 Zach Hyman, 7. Was all around it for much of the game but struggled to finish. His net front presence played a major role on Nuge’s powerplay tally. Finally broke through on the scoresheet when he tipped Nurse’s pass to Draisaitl who potted the game winner. As usual contributed to a number of Grade A’s in a variety of ways: shots, jam shots, passes, goalie screens, won battles. GAS: ES +7/-0; ST +1/-0.
#19 Adam Henrique, 6. Played a highly competitive game and won plenty of battles along the way, including a key one that led to the 2-0 tally. Made a fine pass to Perry for a gold-plated chance. Took a costly penalty in the third. 2 shots on net at one end, 3 blocked shots at the other. 9/13-69% on the dot. GAS: ES: +4/-1; ST 0.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 8. A big night on the scoresheet with a goal, an assist and +2. The goal came on a wicked shot from the slot to cap off a 5-way passing play, the assist a cross-ice feed that found its way to Draisaitl for the 3-2. The workhorse on the blue doesn’t always log quite the minutes that the top pairing does, but he always seems to lead the group in shifts and did so again on this night with 28. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-1.
#27 Brett Kulak, 6. Played a role in the build-up to both Nurse’s and Draisaitl’s goals, though no points to show for those contrbutions. Had some defensive struggles on this night, including 4 giveaways. GAS: ES +2/-3; ST 0.
28 Connor Brown, 4. Earned his chance on the McDavid line with 10 points in his prior 9 games, but didn’t have a lot going on in this one. His forced pass to Bouchard at the offensive blueline led to a turnover and a breakaway, when the better decision with a 2-0 lead late in the second would have been to chip the puck back into the corner. A rare mistake from the reliable vet. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST +0/-1.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 7. Not a lot happening offensively for 2 periods, but kept things clean at the defensive end with Anaheim mustering just 4 shots during his 18:40. Came alive in the third with 3 of his 4 shots including a wicked tip from the slot that forced a brilliant stop by Lukas Dostal. His tour de force came on the game winner when he beat a pair of Ducks along the right wing boards to start the cycle, then headed to the slot where he was able to control a deflected pass with his foot, kick it to his stick and zing a perfect shot just under the stick side crossbar. His 28th goal and 9th game winner of the season, both tops in the NHL. Now has points in 13 straight games. Took a tickytack coincidental minor in an exchange with Jacob Trouba that ended his penalty-free streak at a remarkable 30 straight games. 12/17=71% on the dot. On a night his passes weren’t clicking, all 4 of his Grade A’s came from shots. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST +1/-0.
#33 Viktor Arvidsson, 6. Played an energetic game but struggled to hit the net with his shots (4 misses, 1 of which dinged the post). Did fire 2 other dangerous shots on net and was in the middle of the action quite a bit. GAS: ES +4/-0; ST 0.
#42 Kasperi Kapanen, 6. Terrific shot shares. Credited with 0 shots off his own stick, though he had one jam from close range midway through the second that Dostal appeared to thwart. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST 0.
#49 Ty Emberson, 5. Mostly solid with good shot shares. Was the man chasing 2 Ducks breakaways in the third period, losing the puck on one and a foot race on the other, though fortunately neither was converted. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST 0.
#51 Troy Stecher, 5. Some good, some not so good. It was he who turned over the puck on the second of those breakaways with just 3 minutes left in the third, score tied. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST 0.
#53 Jeff Skinner, 6. Played with energy and purpose, though with more than a little chaos. His first touch continues to let him down; twice a good pass in the slot went right through his stick. Made up for it with a nice pass of his own to Nurse on the 2-0, the primary assist breaking a 6-game pointless streak. Made a nice (uncredited) hit to spring the puck free for Henrique, leading to a great chance by Perry. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST 0.
#74 Stu Skinner, 7. Good not great, but good enough to secure the win on this night. Left to his own devices a few times. Beaten by Brett Leason on a clear breakaway where he was nonetheless fooled by the shot, and by a point shot through a double screen that I don’t think he saw first or last. Held the fort with some solid stops in the final frame. Has posted a save percentage north of .920 in 10 of his last 12 starts. 29 shots, 27 saves, .931 save percentage.
#90 Corey Perry, 7. Drew the penalty that led to the 1-0. Recorded a well-earned secondary assist on the 5-way passing play that resulted in Nurse’s 2-0 goal. Very nearly stretched the lead to 3-0 with a crafty move and shot from close range but Dostal made a brilliant save to keep his team in the game. Had a couple of issues moving the puck in his own zone, especially noticeable late in shifts. GAS: ES +2/-0. ST 0.
#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 6. His night got off to a painful start when he blocked a Radko Gudas blast just 20 seconds in, limped to the bench and then down the tunnel. Returned none the worse for wear to play a solid two-way game. Made a fine end-to-end rush at one point to set up Arvidsson, but as usual did his best work in the trenches. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST 0.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. Opened the scoring when his powerplay pass to Hyman was deflected in by an Anaheim defender. Made a hustling backcheck to thwart an Anaheim rush. Marginally out of position on the Ducks powerplay tally that tied it. Co-led the Oilers with 4 shots. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +1/-1.
#97 Connor McDavid, 5. His sliding shot towards the empty net with 2 seconds left just missed the post, and with that came the end of his 12-game point streak. He was held without a shot for the third time in the last 10 games with just 1 goal in that time, a major drought by his lofty standards. That of course didn’t stop him from setting up teammates for good looks and chances, though on this night nothing was clicking. Took a very marginal penalty that had him barking at the ref (with some justification). GAS: ES +4/-2; ST +1/-0.
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