Oilers 4, Flames 2
The Battle of Alberta lived up to its billing on Sunday night, as the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames went at it hammer and tongs for 60 minutes of mostly-entertaining hockey at the Saddledome. The visitors had the upper hand early taking a 2-0 lead in the first, but the home side fought back to tie things up early in the third. Edmonton regained the lead midway through that final frame on Zach Hyman‘s powerplay goal, then hung on through some nervous moments before a very late empty-net goal made the final margin 4-2.
With the win the Oilers evened up the season series and also pulled even with the Flames in the standings, both teams holding 6-5-1 records and tied for the final playoff spot in the West. With 70 games to go, mind. But given Edmonton’s 0-3-0 start on their home ice that included a 4-1 loss to the Flames, they’ve made quick work of closing the gap with a 6-2-1 run.
By the stats this was a dead even game. Each team had 31 shots on net, while by the Cult of Hockey‘s video analysis the Flames had a narrow 16-15 advantage in Grade A shots, counterbalanced by the Oilers’ 8-7 edge in the subset of 5-alarm chances (preliminary running count). But on this night Stu Skinner made one more save that his counterpart Dan Vladar and that was the difference.
Player grades
#2 Evan Bouchard, 7. Played a team-high 24:46 including 20:19 at even strength. At 5v5 the ice was tilted heavily in Edmonton’s favour, to the tune of 15-5 in shots on goal and 2-0 in goals. Quiet statistically with no points and just 1 shot on net. 3 shot blocks. Highlight of his game was some strong play moving the puck out of his own end of the ice, including a tremendous 120-foot stretch pass that nearly sprang Janmark. Drew a penalty. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +2/-3; Special Teams 0.
#8 Drake Caggiula, 5. Played just 6:44 on a lightly-used fourth line which spent much of its time chasing the play. Managed to saw off where it mattered most (0-0 goals), and played with enough energy to lead the forwards with 3 hits. Had a dangerous deflection that tested Vladar. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST 0.
#13 Mattias Janmark, 6. Played 13½ minutes at evens during which time Calgary mustered just 4 shots. Won a key puck battle to clear the zone and put out a fire in the dying seconds of the first. Finally scored his first of the season when he hit the empty net in the dying seconds. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.
#14 Mattias Ekholm, 7. The other half of that first pairing. Played 6 seconds fewer than Bouchard, with identical shot shares at 5v5 and similar individual stats: 0 points, 1 shot, 3 hits, +3. Was unable to prevent the deflection on the first Calgary goal, that said the puck was tipped up around Ekholm’s shoulder level yet somehow deemed to be no higher than the crossbar. Made a key play on the game winner when he recovered a cleared puck in the neutral zone and rather than reset, he quickly attacked the blueline and started the four-way passing play that ended with Hyman’s tally. Went to bat for Bouchard when Jonathan Huberdeau took some liberties with him. Drew a high-sticking penalty that might have been four minutes if Ek’s beard wasn’t so lush. GAS: ES +2/-3; ST +1/-1.
#18 Zach Hyman, 8. His game has been fine pretty much the whole time, but he’s finally started to find the range on the scoresheet. Doubled his season totals with 1 goal and 1 assist, with key contributions on both. Made a fine play to hold up the puck against the aggressive checking of Kevin Bahl (pictured above), pull up, and slip a beauty feed through to J.Skinner for the finish. Was the finisher himself on the game winner, when he timed his entry into the zone perfectly, went hard to the net front to receive RNH’s pass and solved Vladar with his go-to deke to the backhand side. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST +1/-0.
#19 Adam Henrique, 6. Mostly solid on a defensive line with Janmark and Brown. Took a somewhat careless interference penalty that resulted in Calgary’s first goal. Had nothing going on offensively and recorded 0 shots to prove it. Twice caught my eye with excellent clearances to relieve pressure, each time using the boards to his advantage to bounce the puck up and over the point man. Made a huge shot block in the dying seconds. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0.
#24 Travis Dermott, 4. Played 12½ minutes, all of it at even strength and a large share of it in his own end of the ice judging by eye and by shot attempts of 10 for, 24 against. Managed to escape with no goals against but it wasn’t pretty. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 6. Led the team in shifts (30), shots (4), blocked shots (4) and hits (5). Rang the post in the dying seconds of the second. His on-ice shot shares were not pretty, especially during his time (11½ minutes) with his primary partner, Dermott. Held his own with his “other” partner, Kulak (7 minutes). By eye he made a number of defensive stops, including a couple that got the puck going in the right direction on the second and fourth goals. Thwarted a pair of Flames with effective plays in the dying seconds, eventually bumping the puck up to Draisaitl and earning a secondary assist on Janmark’s empty-netter. GAS: ES +4/-4; ST +1/-0.
#27 Brett Kulak, 4. Struggled with the puck, both in his own end of the sheet and along the offensive blueline. Also had his struggles without it, failing to contain dangerous passes on 4 Grade A shots and coughing the puck up on a fifth. 3 giveaways. Did make a couple of stellar stops against wide speed in the third period, notably against the dangerous Yegor Sharangovich. GAS: ES +0/-5; ST 0.
#28 Connor Brown, 5. Played 14½ minutes and sawed off on shot attempts, shots, and goals (0-0). Was clearly tripped early in the second period without a call, all the more aggravating to Oil fans when Henrique got whistled for an infraction later that same shift. Fired 3 shots on net, the most dangerous a partial breakaway that could have salted the game away with 5 minutes left, but shot from some distance and couldn’t solve Vladar. Made an ill-advised play to touch up a gloved pass that he didn’t need to play, resulting in a d-zone faceoff a hundred feet away. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 8. For the second straight game since Connor McDavid got hurt, Draisaitl led the way offensively with 3 points. Opened the scoring with a wicked backhand from the slot just 20 seconds in. Set up the powerplay game winner with a terrific pass at the offensive blueline that sprang RNH and Hyman 2-on-1. Set up Janmark for the empty netter. Made an unreal play to come away with what seemed a 20/80 puck in the Calgary slot and first a dangerous shot on net. Could have done a better job projecting the puck on the late-game powerplay Oilers were gifted when Calgary had too many men with just 2:18 to play, but he and his mates managed to survive the onslaught. Faceoff workhorse with 15/25=60%. GAS: ES +4/-2′ ST +1/-0.
#33 Viktor Arvidsson, 6. Another solid effort from the buzzsaw winger, though no joy on the scoreboard. Set up his linemates Draisaitl and Podkolzin multiple times with fine passes, showing excellent vision on a couple of them. 3 shots. Made a hustling backcheck to cancel out a developing odd-man rush. Took a high-sticking penalty in the third, but his mates killed it to maintain the lead. GAS: ES +5/-2; ST 0.
#48 Noah Philp, 5. Made a fine play along the end wall to control the puck and cycle it back to Nurse for a shot that was tipped dangerously by Caggiula. Had a fine chance of his own when teed up by Perry for a one-timer. Was a bit unlucky when his attempt to cut out a dangerous pass actually deflected to the Calgary shooter for a breakaway chance, but Skinner had the answer. Poor shot shares and a dismal 1/9=11% on the faceoff dot. Played just 8:46. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST 0.
#49 Ty Emberson, 4. Had some struggles behind his own blueline, losing a couple of key battles that led to Grade A shots. Did manage to block 3 shots, land 2 hits, and made a good play to break up a 2-on-1 rush by cutting out the pass. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0.
#53 Jeff Skinner, 6. Scored a spectacular goal with a twisting, near-horizontal dive behind the Flames net to reach around and somehow find the rebound of his own initial shot that had hit the post and tap it home. Goal-scorer’s goal, perhaps the best evidence to date as to how he has amassed an impressive 360 tallies in his 15 NHL seasons. Something of an adventure in his own end, struggling to clear the puck at times and fill shooting lanes at others. The latter was an issue on the 2-2. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST 0.
#74 Stu Skinner, 7. Not his cleanest game with a couple of bad handles behind his own net and an iffy rebound or two, but did a solid job at his primary assignment of stopping the puck. Was eyeball to eyeball with a few Flames forwards and won all such battles, causing special misery for Blake Coleman. Also stoned Yegor Sharangovich. Flashed the leather a couple of times. Was heavily screened on both goals, one tipped from eye level right in front, the other a seeing eye shot from the point that found its way. 31 shots, 28 saves, .935 save percentage.
Footnote: Skinner now sports a career 4-0-0 record at the Saddledome with a slick 1.50 goals against average and a sick .959 Sv%.
#90 Corey Perry, 4. Made a better door than window on the 2-2. Did block 2 other shots, but mustered none off his own stick. Made a beauty pass to Philp for a good look. Overall his line with Philp and Caggiula was in chase mode, with shot attempts of +4/-13 during Perry’s 7½ minutes. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.
#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 7. For the second straight game he recorded an assist on the first shift, in both cases winning a puck along the boards and immediately finding Draisaitl with a pass into the slot. Good formula for success. Pounded 4 shots on net to lead all forwards, and also pounded a couple of Flames with solid hits. GAS: ES +5/-2; ST 0.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. Still hasn’t put all the pieces together, though is won a higher share of his battles on this night. Made a big step with a gorgeous pass to Hyman for the primary assist on the game-winning goal. Another fine night on the faceoff dot with 7/11=64%, and is now sporting a stunning 63% success rate through 12 games. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +1/-1.
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