Oilers 2, Canucks 3
Edmonton Oilers tempted fate once too often on Saturday, and this time they paid for it. They dug yet another deep first-period hole against a spirited Vancouver Canucks squad, allowing all 3 goals in 3½ minutes late in the first period including a pair of powerplay tallies by first star Quinn Hughes. Facing yet another 0-3 deficit, the travel-weary squad once again came on gangbusters in the middle frame with a pair of Leon Draisaitl goals, but ran into a wall of determined defence in the third frame, producing no miracles and just 3 shots on goal. A single 1 of those shots — a 163-footer credited to Darnell Nurse — came in the final 16 minutes of action.
The poorly-officiated game erupted into a maelstrom of chaos in the dying seconds when Vancouver’s Conor Garland pinned Connor McDavid to the ice for 10 seconds, then tackled McDavid when he got up, an obvious series of infractions that somehow all got missed by veteran officials Wes McCauley and Chris Lee. Upon finally scrambling to his feet with 5 seconds left, McDavid lost his cool and crosschecked Garland in the head, earning a match penalty in the process. In the aftermath Vancouver’s Tyler Myers then drilled Evan Bouchard in the face with a vicious and seemingly unprovoked crosscheck and got a match penalty of his own.
The flow of play favoured Vancouver, who outshot Edmonton 27-15 with 64% of expected goals in all situations. By our video analysis at the Cult of Hockey, Vancouver held an 11-5 advantage in Grade A shots including 7-4 in the highest danger, 5-alarm shots (running count). Which is to say, better than a 3:2 ratio in all departments, fully justifying the final score.
That 9 of those Grade A shots and all 3 Canucks goals came in the first period speaks to yet another slow start by the Oilers. And this time, the 3-goal deficit proved insurmountable.
Player grades
#2 Evan Bouchard, 5. Took a retaliatory penalty for slashing J.T. Miller right after Miller crosschecked Bouchard in the back without a call. The Canucks scored 6 seconds into that powerplay. Was involved in the buildup to both Edmonton goals with good passes in the offensive zone, though neither resulted in assists. Was viciously crosschecked in the face by gigantic Tyler Myers in the late mélée. No word of injury. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +2/-0; Special Teams +1/-0.
#13 Mattias Janmark, 4. For the second time in 3 games, he failed to get a puck in deep while his defence mates were changing behind him leading to a jailbreak and 5 alarm chance, in this case a pair of them including an ultra-dangerous rebound. Thankfully Skinner had the answers. Nothing happening at the good end with 0 shot attempts, never mind Grade A’s. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0.
#14 Mattias Ekholm, 3. Tough night for the Swede. The first powerplay goal deflected in off his skate, the second was scored with Ekholm himself in the box for high-sticking. Took another stick foul with 5 minutes left in the third and the Oilers down by 1. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-1.
#18 Zach Hyman, 5. Not a lot of gas in the tank. Did have a quasi-breakaway in the first period, but was unable to beat Thatcher Demko with his favourite forehand-to-backhand deke. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0.
#19 Adam Henrique, 3. Struggled on the PK, where he was among the identified culprits on both Vancouver powerplay goals, losing the faceoff on the first and allowing the scoring shot on the second. 0 shot attempts and about that much happening offensively. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-4.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 5. Was clearly tripped with no call seconds before Vancouver pounded home the 3-0, ultimately the winning goal. Was himself called for tripping in the next period. His hard charge to the net front played a key role in Draisaitl’s first goal and was initially credited with an assist, even as it was ultimately changed to an unassisted tally. 2 shots, 2 hits, 1 block. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.
#27 Brett Kulak, 3. Not his night. Struggled defensively, had little happening offensively. GAS: ES +0/-4; ST +0/-1.
#28 Connor Brown, 4. On a night Oilers desperately needed some secondary offence, somehow his line with Henrique and Janmark didn’t record so much as a shot attempt among the three of them. His only recorded events were 1 giveaway and 1 lost faceoff. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 7. Allowed an outside shot that led to the 2-0. Pounded home both Oilers goals from his favourite spot near the goal line. Came within an ace of tying the game in the final minute but his 2 shots into traffic just missed the target. His 7 shot attempts led the Oilers. GAS: ES +3/-2; ST +1/-0.
#33 Viktor Arvidsson, 5. Doubtful starter after blocking a shot last game. Suited up for this one only to endure another painful shot block. Had a decent Grade B shot in the first period but like oh so many Oilers, struggled to break through Vancouver’s skin-tight defence. GAS: +0/-1; ST 0.
#44 Josh Brown, 4. Oilers were significantly outshot during his 6 minutes at evens. Led the Oilers in shorthanded ice time with 3:23, thanks in part to other defencemen taking all 4 minor penalties. Was on the ice for 1 powerplay goal, but not deemed to be at fault. 0 hits, not too encouraging for a player renowned for his physical play. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0.
#48 Noah Philp, 5. Played 10 minutes with a shot, a hit and a team-high 3 blocked shots. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.
#49 Ty Emberson, 6. Played some strong defence, including a couple of rebound clearances from the danger area. He has a knack for getting shots through from the blueline and putting them in spots where they might be deflected. Got burned on a poorly timed line change when Janmark failed to get the puck deep. Vancouver mustered just 2 shots on net during his 11 minutes at 5v5. GAS ES +0/-2; ST 0.
#51 Troy Stecher, 4. Played just 8:27, all of it at 5v5, during which time the Oilers got outshot 0-5. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.
#74 Stu Skinner, 5. Held the fort for most of a tough first period, delivering a series of key saves to keep the score at 0-0 deep into the frame. Key among them, a pair of close range shots by Nils Hoglander who scooted in alone after the bad change. But was beaten 3 times in a 3:32 span late in the period when everything fell apart in front of him. No apparent chance on Hughes’ first goal which glanced in off Ekholm’s skate, nor on Dalton Heinen’s 2-0 goal in which he stopped the unchecked Canuck’s dangerous deflection from directly in front but was unable to control the rebound which was quickly slammed home. Beaten cleanly on Hughes’ second PP tally, a well-placed wrist shot from the slot that found the top corner, blocker side. Kept things clean the rest of the way though in truth Vancouver mostly called off the offensive dogs. 27 shots, 24 saves, .889 save percentage.
#90 Corey Perry, 4. Had very little impact or influence on this game. Not the only Oiler affected by the squad’s brutal extended road trip, but certainly the oldest one. 1 early shot. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.
#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 4. The most physical Oiler, credited with 2 of the squad’s paltry 9 hits. Made a serious run at a couple of his former teammates in the process. But nothing doing offensively with 0 shot attempts, and some issues on defence including a lost battle on the 2-0 goal. GAS: ES +0/-3; ST 0.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 5. On the ice for all 3 powerplay goals, of which 2 were unfortunately scored by Vancouver. He was among the culpits on the second of those, allowing a key pass. Made the most inspired offensive play of the game on the PP when he took McDavid’s cross-ice pass, feinted towards the short side of the net to freeze Demko before darting behind the cage to feed Draisaitl on the other side for the 3-2. Fairly quiet at even strength with poor shot shares. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +1/-1.
#97 Connor McDavid, 4. Tightly marked throughout the contest, he tried to make things happen but his passes weren’t clicking. Made a few no-look passes to places that might have been dangerous had there been an Oiler in the vicinity. Was involved in the creation of both Oilers goals, earning a secondary assist on the latter. Lost his cool in the late stages after being pinned to the ice by Garland for an extended period as the clock ticked down, and took out his frustrations on the Vancouver agitator with a crosscheck to the head that drew a match penalty and almost certainly, supplemental discipline. While his frustration with the situation was understandable, his loss of self-control was unacceptable, and his grade docked by 2 points. GAS: ES +4/-0; ST +1/-0.
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