Oilers 1, Lightning 4
It was another bright start for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, the Oilers opening up a first period lead for the third time in 3 games. But for the third time on this nightmarish Eastern road trip, the Oil failed to either build on their early lead or to protect it, then got blown out in a one-sided middle frame. Once again the entire third period was “garbage time” as the visitors struggled to reach the finish line of a multi-goal defeat. This one ended 4-1 for the Lightning. Bright as the start may have seemed, the end was dull as dishwater.
Make it 7 goals for, 17 against through the first 3 games of the trip with at least a 3-goal margin of defeat in each. Once again the Oilers were convincingly outshot, 37-24, making it 103-67 for the 3 games combined, an average of -12 per game. That is way out of character for a club that had the second best shot differential in the league at the resumption of play just 4 days ago.
Similarly, the team was on the short end of Grade A Shots by 17 to 11, and even more convincingly 11 to 3 in the more dangerous subset of 5-alarm shots, preliminary results from the Cult of Hockey‘s ongoing project to document the most important plays of each game. (Running count)
Player grades
#2 Evan Bouchard, 3. Didn’t get the memo about improved puck management, committing a howler of a turnover not 20 seconds into the first period leading to Tampa’s first 5-alarm shot. Skinner answered the bell(s) that time with a fine save. That was the first of a game-high 5 giveaways by the increasingly-erratic Bouchard on this night. Earned a secondary assist on Edmonton’s lone goal. Set up by Savoie for a wide-open 2-on-1 but muffed the chance with a poorly executed pass to Podkolzin. Had one good thrust on net where his one-timer off a Draisaitl feed was thwarted by Andrei Vasilevskiy’s blocker. But some soft defensive coverage at both goal posts was a major part of the breakdown on Brandon Hagel’s game-winner early in the second. Credited with 5 hits, and went to bat for his goalie in one post-whistle scrum. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +3/-2; Special Teams 0.
#13 Mattias Janmark, 4. Had a good early scoring chance but double-clutched, giving Vasilevskiy just enough time to recover and make the stop on Janmark’s only shot of the game. Tabbed as Edmonton’s lone forward on a second-period 3v5, his attempt to block Victor Hedman’s point blast ended badly when the blast caromed off Janmark’s shin pad, past a surprised Skinner and into Edmonton’s net. So it’s been going for the squad of late, especially on its star-crossed penalty kill unit. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-1.
#14 Mattias Ekholm, 4. Won a few battles, as evidenced by his 5 official takeaways, a very high number in this category. But lost a couple of wars on the 2-1 and 4-1 goals, when he numbered among the defensive culprits on both. Oilers were outshot 12-7 and outscored 2-0 during his ~20 even strength minutes. GAS: ES +0/-4; ST 0.
#18 Zach Hyman, 4. His standing screen of Vasilevskiy played a part in Edmonton’s lone goal, scored on the PP. Mustered 3 shots at even strength, though nothing that was seriously dangerous. Was better than his boxcars (0-0-0, -2) but the Oilers need more from last year’s 54-goal man, still stuck on 19 as 2024-25 approaches the 3/4 mark. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +1/-0.
#19 Adam Henrique, 3. Oilers got mashed during his 12 minutes of even-strength play, getting outshot 9-3 and outscored 1-0. Slow recovery after Kapanen’s key turnover and unable to impact the play. Didn’t muster a shot attempt all night. GAS: ES _0/-0; ST +0/-1.
#22 Matt Savoie, 6. Had a few good moments, but learned an important lesson about how good are top goaltenders in this league. Thwarted by Vasilevskiy on an early one-timer off a Draisaitl feed, and on a double chance off a favourable bounce on to his stick in the slot. Also made a great cross-ice feed to send Bouchard and Podkolzing away 2-on-1. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST 0.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 4. Took a nasty knock when Mitchell Chaffee ducked or fell underneath a Nurse hit that sent the big defender careening awkwardly into the boards. Looked to be injured but came back to start the next period. Played most of a decent game but was caught out on a bad pinch on the 4-1 goal that ended all suspense early in the third. GAS: ES +0/-3; ST 0.
#27 Brett Kulak, 4. Caught out far ahead of the play when Kapanen coughed it up at the red line, tried to get back but was unable to contain the man or the pass, his over-commitment on the play leaving himself in no position to check the eventual goal scorer. Led the Oilers in ice time with 23:18. GAS: ES +0/-3; ST 0.
#28 Connor Brown, 4. Played 14 minutes in this game but by eye and by stat had almost no impact on it. A complete clean sheet on the Event Summary with 0 shot attempts, hits, or anything else. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 7. Continues to be Edmonton’s best player on a nightly basis, even as his team collapses around him. Drew the Oilers lone powerplay opportunity of the night when he got hooked down by Nikita Kucherov,, then took advantage by scoring the one and only Oilers goal. The tally was his 43rd of the season, fully 10 more than any other NHLer at this point. His 5 shots on net were by far the team high, including all 3 of the Oilers’ 5-alarm shots. Skated the puck hard through neutral ice and backed up the Bolts defenders more than once. Did take an unfortunate high-sticking penalty that inevitably led to a Tampa powerplay goal. Took another late in the third period when the stripes turned a blind eye to a couple of questionable Eric Cernak hits but were less forgiving when Leon took his pound of flesh in response. GAS: ES +4/-2; ST +1/-0.
#33 Viktor Arvidsson, 3. Got promoted to McDavid’s line but did little with the opportunity, posting 0-0-0, -2 with 0 shots on net in 14½ minutes. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.
#42 Kasperi Kapanen, 3. Just 78 seconds after the Oilers took the lead, Kapanen’s ghastly turnover in the neutral zone was the critical mistake that cost his team that lead. Got benched for the rest of the period but the damage was done. Came back to play a team-low 9:42 with little impact: 1 shot, 1 hit, 2 giveaways. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0.
#49 Ty Emberson, 5. About the best of an underwhelming crew of Edmonton blueliners. The only member of the sextet without a minus, also the only one with positive shots-on-goal shares. Did have his struggles at times behind his own blueline, but Skinner was his best friend on this night. 5 hits to co-lead the Oilers. GAS +0/-4; ST 0.
#51 Troy Stecher, 4. Played his first game since Feb 01 and largely held his own, though with no offence to speak of.. Caught on an island as the lone man back on the 1-1 and took care of one danger man but was in no position to thwart the shooter in what from an Edmonton perspective was a broken play. 1 shot, 2 hits, 2 blocks in 16 minutes. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0.
#74 Stu Skinner, 5. Played a strong first period and made a few big stops to keep his team in the game. But that good work was undone when he was beaten badly by Brandon Hagel in the first half-minute of the second. He bit hard on Hagel’s feint to the short side post and was unable to match his speed to the other post, where the slick forward tucked it home. A killer goal that would prove to be the game winner. Made a number of fine saves down the stretch to keep the score respectable. Stood tall against Tampa’s first unit powerplay in the very late stages as they did their best to run up the score. 37 shots, 33 saves, .892 Save Percentage, -0.48 Goals Saved Above Expected.
#90 Corey Perry, 4. Quiet game in his old home arena (one of them). 1 mildly dangerous shot, no hits, and not much sign of the kind of greasy play which might spark his mates. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0.
#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 6. Decent game on the Draisaitl-Savoie line, his passes leading to 4 Grade A shots and his 4 hits creating a little bit of pushback if not actual chaos. But 0 shot attempts off his own stick, including a 2-on-1 chance where he couldn’t handle Bouchard’s pass in the slot. GAS: ES +4/-0; ST 0.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 3. Made a critical mistake on the 3-1 when his high-sticking penalty while shorthanded put the Oilers 2-men down, the sort of thing the Bolts are unlikely to miss and didn’t. Then he had a weak backcheck on Nick Paul who potted the 4-1 tally 7 minutes into the third. 1 shot. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST +0/-2.
#97 Connor McDavid, 5. A few positives, including a fine pass to Draisaitl for Edmonton’s lone goal after just 16 seconds on the powerplay. 2 shots, 2 hits, and a team-best 9/16=56% on the dot. Showed a couple of flashes of his mad skills, notably an amazing pivot in the neutral zone to spring himself on a rush. But had trouble penetrating Tampa’s layered defensive set to create any truly dangerous chances at 5v5. On the short end of shot shares and was 0-1 in goals. Over his last 6 (NHL) games at 5v5, Edmonton’s captain has been on the ice for 0 goals for and 10 against, truly shocking results at both ends of the ice. GAS: ES +4/-2; ST +1/-0.
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