Edmonton gave one away to the Florida Panthers, squandering a 4-2 lead in the second period to lose 6-5 in an Oilers third period marked by mental errors and poor effort.
In total, the Grade A shots were 14 for Edmonton, 12 for Florida, with the subset of 5-alarms shots, seven Oilers, five for the Panthers.
Connor McDavid, 7. Three assists, one major mistake. Beauty of a skate to stick manouver, then one touch pass to set up Hyman for Edmonton’s first. In the second he took Draisaitl’s stretch pass at centre ice, got knocked down, then lunged to tip the puck and send in Hyman to score. He sent up Drai for Edmonton’s fourth on the power play. But he was wandering in the Red Light Zone, not covering any passing lane or shooter, on Florida’s sixth goal. Contributions/mistakes on Grade A shots (GAS): Even Strength +4/-1; Special Teams 2/0
Zach Hyman, 9. Two great goals. Gritty and brilliant effort. First he spun and got off a Grade A slotter, then he steamed into the slot to take McDavid’s pass and wrist it top shelf where Momma keeps the cookies, as the legendary Edmonton skills coach Jim Fleming likes to say. Broke in hard in the second, took McD’s pass, got a breakaway and made a stupendous deke before going backhand roof to score. Brilliant strike by the Hy Guy. He then took another kind of wicked strike, Bouch’s deflected bomb hitting him in the face. He came back for the third, his face bloodied, nose swollen and wearing a face-mask, then burst in for a breakaway backhander. Full bonus mark for returning to the game. GAS: ES +6/-0; ST 1/0
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 5 . Too quiet overall. Some good stick work on Edmonton’s lengthy first penalty kill. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0/0
Leon Draisaitl 9. Ten major contributions to Grade A shots in this one and solid on defence. Goal and an assists. His excellent backcheck led to a turnover that kicked off the Virtuous Cycle on Edmonton’s first goal. Fine stretch pass to kick off Hy’s second goal. He lashed his lethal Executioner’s Shot from way outside and top shelf for Edmonton’s fourth. He set up Hy’s early third breakaway. He had one last look in the final seconds but failed to drain it. GAS: ES +8/-0; ST 2/0
Kasperi Kapanen, 6. A quiet night until he went hard to the net to jam in Edmonton’s firth goal. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0/0
Connor Brown, 7. Of all the Connor Browns in the world, he’s the Connor Browniest, with his usual Connor Brown hustle all game. But did a non-Connor Brown thing, rifling in a one-timer to score in the second. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0/0
Vasili Podkolzin, 6. Another solid effort. He almost jammed in Nurse’s outside shot in the first. He took a nasty hit from A.J. Greer, then fought for his honour and the admiration of his mates. He won a puck battle leading up to Edmonton’s fifth goal. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST 0/0
Adam Henrique, 4. He was one of the forwards not giving puck support on Edmonton’s fourth goal. Otherwise didn’t accomplish much. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0/0
Jeff Skinner, 3. Rough night on defence, rough night overall. He got blasted with a nasty hit in the third period, which took him out of the play and kicked off Florida’s fourth scoring play. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0/0
Corey Perry, 6. Bad and good in this one. Some good work on the cycle leading to an early Grade A shot. Sweet pass to set up Brown’s harpoon. But his turnover at the blueline led to two late Florida Grade As. GAS: ES +2/-3; ST 0/0
Mattias Janmark, 4. He charged in, got off a shot and drew a penalty early in the game. But a few defensive errors. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0/2
Derek Ryan, 4. Quiet in about seven minutes of play. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0/0
Evan Bouchard, 3. Rough night, very rough. Some solid offensive plays, but a major culprit on three goals against. He lost the puck on the power play, kicking off the Sequence of Pain on the first Florida goal. Later that same period, he moved into the slot to rifle a hard shot off a Draisaitl pass, then moved into the slot to gobble up the puck and feed McDavid, who set up Hyman’s goal. Good defensive stop on a Sam Reinhart rush in the second. Another turnover led to another Sequence of Pain, this time Florida’s critical fourth goal in the third, but he was essentially abandoned by his forwards after the Skinner hit. He got beat on the pass on Florida’s sixth goal. GAS: ES +4/-2; ST 1/1
Mattias Ekholm, 4. In a bit of down period just now. He did good work on the long first period PK, but failed to clear the puck or take out the goal scorer Matt Tkachuk. He turned over the puck and screened the goalie on Florida’s sixth goal. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 0/2
Darnell Nurse, 4. Not one of his better games. He got through a point shot in the first, leading to two Grade A shots. He got tripping penalty in the first, then blasted the ref Kelly Sutherland, earning an unsportsmanlike penalty. He used his renewed speed to track down fast Boqvist on a rush early in the second. He took a poor penalty, throwing a flying elbow at Tkachuk, who collapsed effectively enough to draw the call. He allowed in Verhaege on a few late Grade As. GAS: ES +2/-3; ST 0/0
Troy Stecher, 5. Put on his usual buzzsaw act, looked back on just one sequence. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0/0
Ty Emberson, 4. Bad luck moment in the second with the puck deflecting in off of him. Solid shot block early in the third on Florida’s PP. Not his best game for sure.
GAS: ES +0/-3; ST 0/0
Brett Kulak, 5. As much good as bad. Rushed up ice to kick off Brown’s scoring sequence. He made a few turnovers leading up to Florida’s third goal. He got beat on the pass on Edmonton’s fourth goal.
GAS: ES +3/-2; ST 0/0
Stuart Skinner, 3. Twelve Grade A shots against, six goals against, not good for Skinner, not close to good. He might have done better on the first Florida goal, as Jesper Boqvist shot from an angle on his break-in. He had little chance on the goal of Matt Tkachuk’s skate. He saw little action in the first two periods, but made a solid save off a Nosek bull rush late in the second. He could have done better on the third goal, giving up a high-flying rebound on an outside shot, which then deflected in. The fifth goal against went in off the side of his head from a bad angle. Tough shot on Edmonton’s sixth goal. Two huge saves on Tkachuk and Verhaege late in the third.
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