Oilers 3, Rangers 1
A few things went right for the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. At one end, Stuart Skinner delivered a strong game between the pipes, outduelling New York Rangers star Igor Shesterkin in the process. At the other, they got a couple of crucial goals from down the line-up when first Corey Perry and later Viktor Arvidsson scored tie-breaking goals. They produced a long-awaited clinching goal when Connor McDavid ripped a beauty past Shesterkin with 3:25 to play, giving the squad some rare breathing room down the stretch. And they got a welcome burst of offence from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who was credited with the primary assist on all 3 Edmonton tallies. The last ingredient was a solid overall team effort from up and down the line-up.
The result was a 3-1 Oilers win and a much-needed split of their 4-game road trip to New York State. 4 tight games, with the Oilers scoring 9 goals and allowing 8.
The Oilers had a narrow 23-22 advantage in shots on goal, though the Rangers had the more dangerous opportunities. By our video analysis at the Cult of Hockey the home side had 16 Grade A Shots, the visitors just 10, while the split of the most dangerous, 5-Alarm Shots, was even more one-sided at 11-5 NYR. The analytical site Evolving Hockey, meanwhile, judged the Rangers to have nearly twice as many expected goals as the Oilers at 3.8 to 2.0, with Skinner’s performance shining like a diamond, especially when compared to that of the highly-rated Shesterkin.
Player grades
#2 Evan Bouchard, 5. Played a key role on the Oilers’ best sequence of the first period, contributing directly to 3 fine chances by J.Skinner and Arvidsson in under 20 seconds. A couple of tough moments defensively, notably when the gigantic Matt Rempe got behind him for a breakaway, but Skinner met that challenge. Won some battles and did a good job getting the puck moving in the right direction at key moments down the stretch. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +4/-4; Special Teams 0.
#13 Mattias Janmark, 6. His biggest contribution was a team-leading 3:24 on the 3-for-3 penalty kill. Kept a clean sheet in 8½ minutes at even strength. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-1.
#19 Adam Henrique, 6. Played nearly 16 minutes in a various situations, including 1LW, 3C, and both special teams. 3 shots, 2 hits, and a solid 7/12=58% on the faceoff dot. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-1.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 7. Tower of power. Oilers dominated play during his team-leading 19:16 at even strength, outshooting the Rangers 10-3 in that time and outscoring them 1-0. 3 of those shots came off his own stick, while he delivered a couple of key blocks at the other end. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +1/-0.
#27 Brett Kulak, 5. Had his hands full out there. Oilers were outshot 9-5 during hiis 17 minutes at evens, with some hot and heavy action around his own net. Tried to pull the puck off his goal line on the one New York scoring play but ultimately lost that battle to big Will Cuylle. Skinner saved his bacon a couple other times. Did play 3:22 on the PK to lead the d corps. Salvaged his night with a fine stretch pass that earned him a secondary assist on McDavid’s clincher. GAS: ES +1/-6; ST +0/-1.
#28 Connor Brown, 4. Chasing the game at even strength. Delivered some decent work on the PK, especially pestering the puck carrier in the neutral zone, one of his specialties. Made a good play to fire a hard shot from the slot, though predictably the puck hit Shesterkin right in the crest. Got lit up by a heavy Vincent Trockek bodycheck, as hard as he’s been hit in quite some time. GAS: ES +1/-4; ST +0/-2.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 6. Relatively quiet game after his tour de force on the Island. Mustered an assist on the game’s first goal by simply shooting the puck into the traffic in front and creating a rebound which Perry cashed. His 18th consecutive game with a point, the longest streak in the NHL this season and by any Oiler since Wayne Gretzky’s 39-gamer (!) and Paul Coffey’s concurrent 28-game run in 1985-86. Has now scored at least a point in 40 of his last 42 games. Wasn’t his best night defensively. GAS: +2/-4; ST +1/-0.
#33 Viktor Arvidsson, 8. Oilers dominated play during his 13 minutes at 5v5, holding a massive 16-5 edge in shot attempts, 7-3 in shots on goal, and 1-0 in actual goals. That goal came off his own stick, an outside shot which ramped off a Ranger’s stick and over Shesterkin’s shoulder to put Edmonton back in front and which ultimately stood up as the game winner. Some deserved puck luck on this night that the veteran Swede was buzzing around stirring things up all game. 4 shots on net. His best shift likely came with McDavid and J. Skinner late in the the first when the temporary trio created 3 great looks and drew a penalty call in short order, though for some reason Coach Knoblauch didn’t go back to that combination except maybe once. A likely reason was that Arvidsson was contributing to a very effective third line with RNH and Podkolzin that gave New York fits. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST +1/-0.
#42 Kasperi Kapanen, 4. Got a cameo role on McDavid’s line, filling in for the injured Zach Hyman. Seemed out of his depth, producing not a single shot attempt never mind an actual shot, nor contributing to a Grade A shot in his 11:39 at evens. Did chip in a bit on the PK. GAS: +0/-1; ST 0.
#46 Max Jones, 5. Pressed back into action when Hyman couldn’t go and played OK. 1 shot, 3 hits, though his line was chasing the game a bit. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0.
#49 Ty Emberson, 5. Kept things mostly quiet at evens, though he was also in frame on the Rangers’ goal where he was among those unable to put out the fire on the rebound. Otherwise kept things mostly tidy, including in 2:44 on the PK where, lest we forget, he’s playing without his usual partner Mattias Ekholm has has been on the shelf for 6 games now. 1 shot, 1 block, 1 hit. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0.
#51 Troy Stecher, 5. D-man/terrier is making the most of what may become dwindling opportunity in the absence of Ekholm and John Klingberg who both missed the entire trip. He delivered 11 solid minutes in which the Rangers mustered just 2 shots on net vs. Edmonton’s 6. He too had 1 shot, 1 block, 1 hit. Took a nasty bop in the nose by big Rempe. bled, left for repairs and returned to the game looking considerably the worse for wear. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0.
#53 Jeff Skinner, 7. Really stood out in the first period, in which he drew 2 penalties and was involved in 4 Grade A Shots, achieving most of that by outworking his opponents. Split the defence to walk in and test Shesterkin, then seconds later drew his second penalty by sliding into the low slot to take McDavid;’s brilliant spin-around pass. Took a penalty of his own in the third period, a questionable call which had the normally happy-go-lucky Skinner spitting fire at the officials and with some justification given other infractions not called on the same sequence. That competitive fire was a welcome sight to these eyes, and I’ll bet his coach didn’t mind either. Terrific shot shares in just under 10 minutes at evens. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST +1/-0.
#74 Stu Skinner, 8. Responded to the challenge with his best game in some time, outduelling one of the NHL’s best in Shesterkin. Faced 11x 5-alarm shots and had the answers for all but one. His biggest moments were a breakaway save off Rempe just a couple minutes after Rangers had tied the game, and a remarkable glove robbery off Mika Zibanejad’s rebound attempt during NYR’s third-period powerplay, A couple of small adventures handling the puck, but nothing costly. 22 shots, 21 saves, . 955 save percentage.
#90 Corey Perry, 6. Filling in for Hyman on the first PP unit, he opened the scoring with a Corey Perry Special, finding a loose rebound in tight to the net and backhanding it home… from his knees. With the tally, Perry became the first depth scorers (defined here as anyone outside the usual first powerplay unit) to hit the 15-goal mark. Indeed, of the other others just J.Skinner (11) is even in double digits. Missed an assignment on the tying goal. Played 16″08 and led the Oilers in average shift length at a full minute, not ideal for a soon-to-be 40-year-old. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST +1/-0.
#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 6. Played a strong defensive game beyond one glitch where he failed to recognize the danger man in time to prevent a dangerous Grade A shot and its immediate rebound, taking a penalty on that sequence. Played his role as the third wheel on a good attacking combo with Nuge and Arvidsson, doing plenty of the heavy lifting even as it was his linemates doing the scoring. I was impressed with one sequence where he pursued his man hard all the way to the defensive end boards, finishing the job with a solid bodycheck. Blocked 3 shots. Another hard physical game with a team-high 5 hits. Make it seven straight games he has led his team in this department, with 5, 4, 3, 5, 5, 4 and 5 hits respectively. Don’t let it be said he is inconsistent! GAS:ES +0/-2; ST 0.
$93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 8. Centred an effective third line between Podkolzin and Arvidsson and delivered his first 3-point game of the season, earning the primary helper on all 3 Oilers goals. More solid play than great passing — a won battle in the trenches on the 1-0, a give-and-go with the goal scorer on the 2-1, and a crafty wall pass in the neutral zone to McDavid on the 3-1. 0 shots off his own stick, having missed the net with a great look from close range. Played a shade under 2 minutes on the penalty kill. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST 0.
#97 Connor McDavid, 6. Continues to have a bit of trouble handling the puck in tight spaces, at least at the blur-inducing speed Oil fans have come to expect from the gifted stickhandler. Did make a brilliant pass to Skinner alone in front that resulted in an Edmonton powerplay, and that PP resulted in a goal. 0 shot attempts through 2 periods, but turned that corner with a wicked drive that narrowly missed the target very early in the third. Finally delivered on his first and only shot on goal of the night which he buried behind Shesterkin with 3½ minutes left to seal the deal. That extended McD’s own personal scoring streak t 11 games. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST 0.
Recently at the Cult of Hockey
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STAPLES: Leon Draisaitl shows his MVP stuff in Oilers win over Islanders
LEAVINS: Player grades from 3-2 loss in Jersey
McCURDY: Maybe these Oilers are just not good enough
STAPLES: With clock ticking, Jeff Skinner gets one more look in the top six
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