Oilers 4, Blackhawks 3
The standings say that Chicago Blackhawks are the 32nd and last place team in the National Hockey League, but they never seem to be an easy out for the Edmonton Oilers. The Hawks won convincingly 5-2 right in Edmonton way back in Game 2, and held a 3-1 lead at the midpoint of Saturday’s match in the Windy City. The Oilers gradually took over the contest from there, pounding home three straight goals and surviving a late scare to win it, 4-3 in regulation.
After leading heavily on stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl who played 27 minutes each in a failed comeback bid in Pittsburgh, this was much more a team effort. Scoring was done by committee, with Vasily Podkolzin, Adam Henrique and Corey Perry all scoring at 5v5 to knot the count, before Zach Hyman converted a rebound on Edmonton’s only powerplay of the game to provide the margin of victory.
Driven in part by score effects, the Oilers were the superior team by flow of play, outshooting their hosts by 34-22. By our video analysis at the Cult of Hockey, Edmonton held an 18-8 edge in Grade A shots (running count), with fully half of Chicago’s coming during a 6v4 powerplay in the game’s final minute. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Oilers had a massive advantage in expected goals, 3.83 to 1.38.
Meanwhile, the hyped “Clash of the Connors” was something of a bust, with both Edmonton’s McDavid and Chicago’s Bedard posting matching boxcars of 0-0-0, -2 with just 1 shot between them (by McDavid). This was a game where players down the line-up did the damage for both clubs.
Player grades
#2 Evan Bouchard, 7. Played a strong two-way game, keeping things clean in his own end while delivering some dangerous offensive looks in Chicago’s. Played a team-high 23:42, also led the squad with 7 shots attempts, 4 of them on net. The best of those came in the first minute of the final frame when he slipped behind the Blackhawks defence, took McDavid’s slick pass, and jammed a shot on Arvid Soderblom from the edge of the crease. Later earned a secondary assist on Hyman’s game winner. His best defensive moment came when he dispossessed Frank Nazar on a wide-open 1-on-1 rush. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +4/-0; Special teams 0.
#10 Derek Ryan, 4. Inserted into the lineup in place of Jeff Skinner, he played a team-low 8 minutes, though that limited time included the final 30 seconds when the team was trying to survive 4v6. Officially lost both of his faceoffs in that situation, though both were mostly due to winger help, which obviously favoured Chicago in that manpower scenario. Did allow a dangerous centring pass in the dying seconds. Earlier in the game had some issues handling the puck cleanly, usually one of his strengths. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-1.
#13 Mattias Janmark, 6. Solid performance in a defensive rol. Became especially prominent after the Oilers took the lead, playing 6 shifts in the 12:42 that remained. Did a splendid job clearing the defensive zone safely and getting the puck to safe places. Might have scored into the empty net had his stick not been slashed out of his hands on the play, but the seemingly obvious foul went uncalled, and was amplified when a penalty was called against the Oilers seconds later. Unsurprisingly, his coach turned to Janmark to help kill it off. Had a couple of hits and as usual, backed down from absolutely nobody. GAS: +0/-0; ST 0.
#14 Mattias Ekholm, 5. Played a couple of ticks under 22 minutes. Not his finest night with the puck on his stick, officially charged with 5 giveaways. Joined the battle in the trenches as usual with a couple of key shot blocks. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-1.
#18 Zach Hyman, 6. Had his defensive issues in the first period when his line was burned for both Chicago goals, with Hyman himself a small part of the problem on each. Came on hard from there, coming close a few times before finally notching the game winner from his office on the edge of the blue paint midway through the third. Led the Oilers in both shots and hits, with 4 and 3 respectively. GAS: ES +4/-2; ST +1/-0.
#19 Adam Henrique, 5. Part of the problem on the 3-1 when he allowed a key pass, but got it back a few minutes later when he tipped home Emberson’s point shot to again narrow the deficit back to a single goal. Took a careless high-sticking minor in Chicago territory in the final minute which led to a white knuckle finish; thankfully Pickard and the penalty killers had his back and managed to grimly hang on for the win. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 6. Part of the problem on the first Chicago goal, but part of the solution on Edmonton’s first when his good stretch pass sent Draisaitl, Arvidsson and Podkolzin away. No point to show for that, but a big part of the sequence. 2 shots, 2 hits, 1 block in a game high 25 shifts (21:24). GAS: ES +3/-1; ST 0.
#27 Brett Kulak, 4. On the ice for all 3 Chicago goals and was part of the problem on 2 of them, notably the first when his poor clearing pass under minimal pressure was intercepted inside the blueline. Gradually got things togther in the back half of the game. Credited with 4 shots on net to co-lead the club, though none of them were deemed Grade A. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0.
#28 Connor Brown, 4. Had a terrible time of it on the 3-1 when he coughed up the puck twice, first at the Chicago blueline, then again behind his own net seconds later. Completed the trifecta when he was then beaten by a pass to the eventual goal scorer, Ryan Donato. Spent the next 15 minutes — the last 10 of the second, the first 5 of the third — nailed to the bench, before finally being released. Drew the penalty that led to the game-winning powerplay goal. Was then entrusted with several shifts down the stretch as the Oilers protected their slender lead. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 8. Played 21:38, during which time the Oilers largely dominated play. All but a minute of that came at even strength, during which time Edmonton outshot Chicago 17-5 and outscored them 2-0, with Draisaitl earning a secondary assist on Podkolzin’s tally in the opening seconds of the middle frame. The other 1:00 came on the Oil’s only powerplay of the night, which was struggling to connect until Draisaitl decided to let fly from the high slot, leading to a rebound that Hyman deposited for the game winner. Led the forwards with 6 shot attempts, though just that 1 was on net. Played another strong defensive game. GAS: ES +5/-0; ST +1/-0.
#30 Calvin Pickard, 4. A shaky outing from the backup netminder, who didn’t appear to be set for the shot on any of the 3 goals that beat him. Struggled to track the puck and too often was deep in his crease. For the first 59 minutes he stopped just 1 Grade A shot against. But he came through big time in the hectic final minute when he stopped no fewer than 4 Grade A’s, and as importantly, found and froze 2 dangerous rebounds to bail out his outnumbered teammates and earn his 10th win of the season. 22 shots, 19 saves, .864 save percentage.
#33 Viktor Arvidsson, 6. Another industrious game from the Swede, highlighted by the sweet centring pass he made to Podkolzin for the Oilers’ first goal. Shied away from no man, not even 6’8, 228 lb. Louis Crevier who crosschecked him to the ice after Arvidsson hacked at a rebound just as the second period buzzer was sounding. Took that licking and came back ticking for the final frame. 3 shots. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.
#42 Kasperi Kapanen, 6. Had a great sequence on the 3-3, winning one puck battle in the low slot to recover Perry’s rebound, then another along the wall against two Hawks to retain possession and chip the puck back to Perry who scored on his second try. Also made a nifty pass in his own territory to send Emberson away on an odd-man rush. Kept things tidy defensively, not always his strength. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0.
#49 Ty Emberson, 7. Took a rare turn in the offensive spotlight, chipping in on no fewer than 5 Grade A’s including a couple of dangerous shots off his own stick. Came within an ace of scoring his first as an Oiler when he took Kapanen’s pass and jumped into an odd-man rush, (correctly) decided to let fly and rang a wrister off the post. Had another good chance from close range but couldn’t solve Soderblom with a backhand shot. Did find the scoresheet on the 3-2 with an outside shot that found Henrique’s stick for the tip-in. The first-unit PKer was entrusted with the game’s all-important final shift at 4v6 while vets like Nurse and Kulak watched from the bench, a nice endorsement from his coach at a crucial moment. Some chaos ensued, but he and his mates survived the test. GAS: ES +5/-1; ST +0/-1.
#51 Troy Stecher, 6. Played nearly 17 minutes, primarily with Nurse and all at even strength. Oilers dominated possession during those minutes, 24-10 in shot attempts and 11-4 in shots on goal. 3 of those shot attempts came off his own stick, and while they amounted to nothing dangerous, he kept things clean in his own end which is Job One. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.
#90 Corey Perry, 7. The puck was mostly going noth on his watch. Got bumped up the line-up to the Draisaitl line and contributed to several strong shifts. Had 2 great chances to tie the game late in the second, couldn’t convert the first but persevered and made good on his second look 15 seconds later when he snapped a wrist shot from the low slot past Soderblom. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0.
#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 8. Lots of crooked numbers on the Event Summary, most importantly boxcars of 1-1-2, +2 but also 3 shots, 2 hits, 2 takeaways, 2 blocks. That’s a nice night’s work. Started the night on the Draisaitl-Arvidsson line, where he scored his goal on a snap shot from the low slot. Later got moved to the Henrique-Janmark line in the wake of Brown’s benching, and earned the secondary assist on Henrique’s tally. Regardless of whom he played with, Oilers outshot the Blackhawks 10-3 during his 14½ minutes. GAS: ES +5/-0; ST 0.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. A very odd game where his boxcars were the polar opposite of Podkolzin’s — 0-0-0, -2 — but all the auxiliary numbers were very similar and all positive: 4 shots, 1 hit, 2 takeaways, 2 blocks. He had little to do with the 2 goals against, while his line with McDavid and Hyman did everything but cash at the good end. GAS: ES +5/-0; ST +0/-2.
#97 Connor McDavid, 5. Had a ragged first-period in which his line was burned for 2 goals against, with #97 himself burned for a slot pass on the first and allowing an outside shot on the second. He raised his game thereafter and spent much of the final two periods driving play and creating scoring chances, though with nothing to show for it on the scoresheet. Couldn’t even draw a penalty when tackled on a dangerous rush late in the third. Did post a team best 7/11=64% on the faceoff dot. GAS: ES +7/-2; ST 0.
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