The Edmonton Oilers desperately needed a save in Florida on Thursday night.
Stuart Skinner had played well over forty, but he frankly whiffed on consecutive opportunities in the third. Although to be fair, there was soft defensive coverage on both and a bad line change on one.
Meanwhile, a continuous march to the penalty box by Skinner’s mates (six stick infractions, all but one wholly deserved) kept the Oilers offensive attack off-balance as the PK was worked hard.
To their credit, Edmonton turned in a far superior effort compared to their four previous losses. But in the end, they were still second best in too many areas.
So, make the final 4-3 FLA. Edmonton has now lost five in a row.
Here is the tale of the tape…
Edmonton Oilers Player Grades
STUART SKINNER. 4. Important early save on a shot from the high slot. The 1-0 was from distance but the puck also deflected twice with traffic in front, friendly and not. A huge kick save off Rodrigues later in the first that kept it at 1-1. Second period kick save on Gadjovich, then back-to-back saves with the Panthers 6-on-5 and pressing. Leaked a few rebounds but otherwise solid. Robbed Rodrigues early in the third. Stuffed Bennett on the PP in the third. But waved meekly at a 3-2 wrist shot. And looked completely discombobulated on the 4-2. Finally, to pour salt on an open wound, why in god’s name did he not go off for the extra skater in the final seconds? Is that on the player, the coach, or both? Hard to tell from here. But either way it was a mental mistake that left a desperate effort to tie it up while a man short at the other end. Better…but still the second best goaltender in an Oilers loss.
CONNOR McDAVID. 5. Sharp back-check early in the first. Fed Bouchard for a hard point shot. Second period turnover. Lost puck battle along the wall leading to the 2-1. He and Draisaitl set up Kulak for a wide-open look by the D-man missed the net. A back-hand chance early in the third. Beat two men before firing a hard wrist shot on net. Beat Barkov (no less) off the wall and pushed it in front for Hyman who scored five-hole to pull the score to 4-3. But he is still not himself. In part to illustrate that: Scoring chances while he was on the ice were 7-10 5v5.
RYEN NUGENT-HOPKINS. 5. The Nuge was fighting the puck in this one, a second period steal was promptly bobbled away and he put a PP pass into Draisaitl’s feet. Did sift a nice pass over to Ekholm but he hammered it wide. And fed McDavid for a dangerous chance early in the third. Lots of quality PK work. But an average game for 93.
ZACH HYMAN. 6. Had a mid-period two-on-one in the first with McDavid but his pass went into 97’s skates. A close-in backhand was stopped by Bobrovsky. Just missed a tip off a Bouchard wrister on the PP. Parked himself in front and managed to chip a loose puck five-hole to make it 4-3. His twentieth. Maybe that gets him going.
EVAN BOUCHARD. 5. Hard slapper off a McDavid pass in the first but no traffic in front. A nice wrist shot on the PP was tipped just wide by Hyman. A nifty rush up the middle. A fine setup to Podkolzin for a second period chance. He and Klingberg gave up too much gap on the 3-2, Bouchard in particular, but he had little back-pressure help on the play due to a bad line change. High Dangers 5-2. Much better than he has been.
MATTIAS EKHOLM. 5. Won puck battle led to a PK clear. Took an accidental but nonetheless deserved high-sticking call. Heavy hit into the end wall, resulting in a zone-clear. Five-alarm giveaway that Podkolzin had to mop up. A smart stick and clear on that second period PK. Two good sticks and a clear on a third period PK. Twisted inside-out on the 4-2 goal, thanks in part to a bouncing disk. Then, a trip late left his mates short-handed. Had terrific 5v5 metrics (CF 80%). But those cloaked some blemishes.
LEON DRAISAITL. 7. First period takeaway. Next, whistled for a pretty mild cross-check but his mates killed it off. His cross-ice pass started off the sequence that ended in the 1-1. Drew a second period trip. Banked one off the post on a good feed from Kapanen. A give-and-go set up Kulak for a wide-open look. Hi-lite reel goal to close out the second 2-2, beating Forsling 1-on-1 then roofing a shot bar-down, glove side. Fabulous power forward play with a filthy finish. That is goals for him in seven consecutive. Took a hit to spring Arvidsson who hit the crossbar. Excellent back-check in the third. Once again, the best Oilers by a large margin. The game’s Second Star. Obviously frustrated as he skated off at the end.
JEFF SKINNER. 4. A second period shot. Whistled for a trip but the PK crew negated it. But did not have a major impact on the second line.
VIKTOR ARVIDSSON. 4. Played with some emotion. And slapped one off the crossbar in the third. But ultimately not especially effective.
BRETT KULAK. 6. He was decent. Shot block on the second PK. Unlucky deflection off him on the 1-0. Swept in the 1-1 off a fine play by Podkolzin, Kulak’s seventh. Will see the open net he missed in the second period in his dreams tonight. High Dangers 5v5 4-3. Edmonton’s best D-man tonight.
JOHN KLINGBERG. 5. A tidy little pass at the blueline earned him an assist on the 1-1. A good play right in front prevented a clear-cut Florida chance late in the first. Earned a second assist with a putt up to Draisatil on the 2-2. An interference call in the third. He and Bouchard were too passive on the 3-2, but I saw that more on Bouchard than him. And the Oil also suffered from a bad line change on the play. Some holes in his 5v5 game although High Dangers were 3-3.
ADAM HENRIQUE. 4. Good zone clear on the first PK of the game. Lost faceoff on the 1-0. A second period shot went off the goalie and the post before skittering wide. Critical D-zone faceoff win on the PK in the second frame. Quite good on the PK and 70% in the circle. But it was a rough night 5v5.
MATTIAS JANMARK. 2. Early turnover in his own zone. Good disruption at the defending blueline on the second period PK. Impossibly bad 5v5 numbers (CF 1-14). -3. Not good. At all.
CONNOR BROWN. 2. -3 in 12:07. Zero shots. Absolutely crushed 5v5 (1-12, 8%). Dangerously close to taking a seat for a game.
TROY STECHER. 5. Blocked shot on the second PK. First period stick deflected away a dangerous shot. A play on the opposite wall broke up a developing two-on-one. The 2-1 deflected off his man in front. Two hard third period hits. As always, it seems, terrific effort. Decent results, with Darnell Nurse out with an injury.
TY EMBERSON. 4. Good clear on the second period PK. Failed clear leading directly to the 2-1. HDSC’s 1-3 5v5. Pretty good effort on the PK.
KASPERI KAPANEN. 5. Fine play to set up Leon Draisaitl for a good chance in the second. The least used forward (8:01). But had two hits, and turned in a solid effort on the PK.
VASILY PODKOLZIN. 6. Fine opening twenty. His excellent back-check on the Ekholm giveaway almost certainly saved a goal. And his hard forecheck and spin-pass coming off the wall earned him the primary assist on Kulak’s marker. Could not quite send home a nice pass by Bouchard. Drew a third period power play. An assist. Two shots and a hit. 5v5 FC 63%. Good PK work. Earned his keep.
COREY PERRY. 5. Quite clearly picked a scrap early in the game in an effort to light a fire beneath his team. A slashing penalty in the dying seconds. Net-front on the 4-3. +2. I would have played him more.
The Oilers season record goes to 34-21-4, 72 points, second in the Pacific, two back of Vegas. Carolina up next.
Now on Bluesky @kurtleavins.bsky.social. Also, find me on Threads @kleavins, Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at [email protected]. This article is not AI generated.
Recently, at The Cult…
STAPLES: Is this clutch goaltender a perfect fit for the Edmonton Oilers
McCURDY: Another reclamation project on the Oilers blueline
LEAVINS: Team Canada’s win not just a win
Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.