The Edmonton Oilers came out slow but revved it up, tilting the ice in the second period and hanging on in the third to beat the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 on Monday night.
In the end, the Grade A shots were 15 for the Oilers, 11 for the Kings, with the subset of more dangerous 5-alarm shots five for Edmonton, two for Los Angeles.
Connor McDavid, 8. Scored the game’s only goal. Played hard, intense game, winning many battles. His PP shot was Edmonton’s first Grade A, 15 minutes into the game. He charged up ice to set up RNH for a dangerous shot late in the second. Great timing to gobble up Nurse’s rebound a moment later and slam in the first goal of the game. Contributions/mistakes on Grade A shots (GAS): Even Strength +6/-0; Special Teams 1/0
Zach Hyman, 5. Good hustle, solid defence, not much on the attack. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0/0
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. Made a swell seam pass to set up McDavid’s first period Grade A. He got wiped out hard by massive Tanner Jeannot in the second but hung in there. Slammed a slot shot at net half-way through the third but failed to drain it. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 1/0
Leon Draisaitl, 7. So good on a few plays he made the Kings look like beer league stumble bums. Plenty of greatness on the attack, some badness on defence. A few solid offensive plays early on but early in the second his turnover at the offensive blueline led to a Byfield break in shot. Kept up his good work on the attack and almost scored late in the second, only to be poke-checked by Kuemper. A moment later, he charged up ice like a big train rolling across the frozen prairie, wiping out smaller Trevor Moore, then making a deje so brilliant it wiped out Moore again, before setting up Nurse in the slot, with McD scoring. A turnover in the third led to 4-on-2 Kings jailbreak and dangerous shot. At once the puck went the other way with Draisaitl almost cashing in on his own 2-on-1. Sixteen wins on 25 face-offs. GAS: ES +10/-3; ST 1/0
Vasili Podkolzin, 6. The Pod hustled in to win a puck in the first, setting up a Drai harpoon that got blocked. He won another battle, this time off a face-off in the third, leading to goal mouth scramble. Jammed a shot on net in the third, then threw Brandt Clarke to the ice in the follow-up scuffle. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST 0/0
Viktor Arvidsson, 7. Churned out great offensive plays in this one. He swooped in to fire a hard shot in net halfway through the second. A moment later he made a fine pass in the sequence leading to Ekholm’s hammer off the post. Great pass to set up Drai on the rush early in the third. Almost scored whipping on slot shot on net, then set up RNH for a dangerous opportunity. GAS: ES +5/-0; ST 0/0
Adam Henrique, 5. Solid positional game. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0/0
Mattias Janmark, 5. Good hustle all game. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0/0
Connor Brown, 5. Part of a line that sawed it off. Charged ahead in the third but missed the net off Janmark’s pass. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0/0
Kasperi Kapanen, 6. Bonus grade for coming to McDavid’s defence late in the second, grabbing one of the villainous Kings. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0/0
Corey Perry, 5. He muffed up on a slot clearance leading to two early Grade As by Trevor Moore. He moved in fast to launch a Grade A early in the second off a Kapanen pass. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0/0
Evan Bouchard, 6. Moved the puck and defended smartly. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST 0/0
Mattias Ekholm, 7. Some big impact players. He ripped one off the post in the second. Set up Drai in the deep slot a moment later. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST 0/0
Darnell Nurse, 8. All over this game on the attack. Solid defensive play early in the second to beat Kempe to the puck in the slot early in the second, then won a battle to kick off a 3-on-2 rush. Charged up ice to drill a slot shot on net off Draisaitl’s rush, leading to McDavid’s second period goal. GAS: ES +7/-2; ST 0/0
Troy Stecher, 3. His bad pinch early on led to Kopitar-Kempe’s 2-on-1 that Skinner barely saved. He played little after that. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0/0
Ty Emberson, 6. His PK success continued into the first period, clearing a wild rebound away from a gaping net. A few mistakes on Grade As, but nothing too bad. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0/0
Brett Kulak, 7. Solid work at both ends. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0/0
Josh Brown, 6. Quiet game, which is good news for the big d-man. He kept a clean sheet at even strength. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0/0
Stuart Skinner, 9. Super solid in this one. He did not face a lot of the highest quality shots, but stopped everything that came his way. He came out strong, stopping the first Grade As by Trevor Moore then made a monumental stop on Adrian Kempe on a 2-on-1. But he made a couple mistakes leading to dangerous chances, one that Emberson thwarted in the first, the second early in the second when he coughed up the puck to Byfield. Huge stop five minutes into the third on a Jordan Spence slot shot on a 4-on-2.
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