Sabres 2, Oilers 3
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stu Skinner‘s afternoon began with with an eyeball-to-eyeball encounter with Buffalo Sabres’ top goal scorer, the hulking Tage Thompson, not 30 seconds in. It ended with the goaltender facing a 19-shot barrage in the third period and turning aside every one outside of an apparent tying goal that was disallowed for being kicked in. In between times, 3 clear cut breakaways and a shooting gallery during a second period Buffalo powerplay that saw the Sabres fire 11 shot attempts, 8 of them on goal, in a frantic, frenetic 70-second span.
Safe to say that the Edmonton skaters in front of their beleaguered netminder did not exactly resemble a first-place team, but after all those saves and a couple of timely goals by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins that’s exactly where they find themselves tonight. The two stolen points courtesy a 3-2 win over the talented but error-prone Sabres were enough to push the Oil into the top spot of the Pacific Division with a 31-15-3 record for 65 points and a .663 percentage through 49 games. That’s 1 more win and 1 more point than the slumping Vegas Golden Knights in a like number of games.
Despite the 3-2 scoreline, this one was the furthest thing from a defensive gem. The Oilers allowed a season high 41 shots, 36 of them in the last 40 minutes, compared to 34 at the good end. By our own video analysis at the Cult of Hockey, the Oilers were second best by a wide margin in both Grade A shots (16 to 27) and 5-alarm shots (8 to 14), ghastly defensive figures in both measures (running count). All 18 Oilers skaters were tagged with at least 1 mistake on a Grade A.
That said, good teams often find ways to win games when bringing less than their A game, and the Edmonton Oilers found a way to win this one.
Player grades
#2 Evan Bouchard, 4. His timing seemed off from the outset, the usual butter passes arriving a smidge off target or a split-second late when they arrived at all. The Event Summary says he had an assist along with 3 shots, 3 blocks, 2 hits, 1 takeaway and just a single giveaway, superficially OK, but he had plenty of issues on the defensive side of the puck. Foremost among them, he was among those burned on 2 different breakaways, and also coughed up the puck with a weak clearing pass on the first Buffalo goal. Made a nice pass to Nurse to earn the secondary assist on the game winner to salvage an off day. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +3/-7; Special Teams +0/-1.
#13 Mattias Janmark, 5. “Thirteen quiet minutes” at even strength with positive shot shares. Mostly OK on the penalty kill, where he played 2:41 to lead the forwards. Had a decent chance to jam one home but was unable to solve the netminder, something he hasn’t done all season, having scored just one into an empty net in early November and none at all in his last 37 games. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +1/-0.
#14 Mattias Ekholm, 5. Outcome good, with 0-1-1, +2. Process not so good, as his pairings with Bouchard at evens and with Emberson on the penalty kill bled numerous big chances. Did make a couple of emergency stops, notably thwarting the giant Thompson on a potential breakaway. Earned a secondary assist on the 2-2. 3 shots, 2 blocks, 1 hit. GAS: ES +3/-5; ST +0/-4.
#18 Zach Hyman, 4. Very quiet game with just 1 shot. Took a (marginal) penalty in the o-zone that led to a cascade of chaos, ending in the second Sabres goal just after he emerged from the box. Turned the puck over on the PP leading to a breakaway the other way. GAS: ES +4/-1; ST +0/-1.
#19 Adam Henrique, 4. Weird game in that he went 10/13=76% on the faceoff dot, by far the best on the Oilers, yet those 3 faceoff losses each led directly to a Grade A against (a 3-shot barrage in one case). 2 blocks, 2 hits, but 0 shots and little happening offensively. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST +0/-3.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 6. Game started poorly when he was stripped of the puck on its first shift leading to the glorious Thompson chance. But bounced back from there with a solid two-way game including a great cross-seam pass to RNH for the game-winner. 3 shots, 2 hits, and a whopping 33 shifts. GAS: ES +4/-1; ST 0.
#27 Brett Kulak, 5. Fairly quiet game, at least by the standards of this madcap affair. Managed a decent shot from close range on a broken play with Draisaitl. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0.
#28 Connor Brown, 5. Led the Oilers with 5 shots but had a couple more issues than usual on the defensive side of the puck. GAS: ES +2/-3; ST +1/-1.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 4. Not a lot of gas in the tank for the last game of Connor McDavid‘s suspension after carrying the load for the first 2 of those contests. His slow, late line change played a key role in the first Sabres tally. A couple of other defensive miscues in what was in general an out-of-character game. Took a whopping 26 draws and won exactly half of them. Missed a free shot at the empty net in the final minute, where a goal would have moved him into the tie for the league scoring lead. Instead, the outcome remained in doubt for 45 nervous seconds. GAS: ES +4/-4; ST 0.
#33 Viktor Arvidsson, 4. Beat the puck square all day long, continuously struggling to make clean handles. One such bobble at the end of Edmonton’s lone powerplay was instantly turned into a Peyton Krebs breakaway. 0 shots, 0 hits. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0.
#42 Kasperi Kapanen, 6. Involved in the build-up to the first Oilers goal, then made a key play on the second with a speedy wraparound try that set up RNH at the edge of the crease. In between times was unable to contain a key pass on the second Buffalo tally. Took an iffy hooking penalty in the third period. GAS: ES +4/-0; ST +0/-1.
#48 Noah Philp, 5. Played just 6:49, the only Oiler in single digits. Had some good offensive moments in there, including a good pass in the build-up to J.Skinner’s goal. A smidge late to take the ice on the line change replacing Draisaitl on a sequence where “cheating” by a second might have been the difference in eliminating the goal scorer. Was given an opportunity on the PK and managed a good shot on goal early in the kill, but later lost a pair of d-zone faceoffs that led to a continuation of some heavy pressure from the Sabres and ended with the 2-1 goal. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST +1/-1.
#49 Ty Emberson, 6. Collected another point, his 6th in his last 15 games after just 3 in the first 32 (all assists), when his point shot created a rebound that J.Skinner jammed home. Made a nice outlet pass that helped set up a splendid chance by Perry. Kept a clean sheet defensively at even strength but had his hands full on the PK, though he did make a key block of a Thompson blast while on that unit. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +1/-4.
#51 Troy Stecher, 4. Not a lot happening offensively, a couple of adventures in his own end. Took an interference penalty in the first period. 0 shots, 2 giveaways. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0.
#53 Jeff Skinner, 6. Scored a key goal against the team that bought him out when he tied the count on a rebound just 17 seconds after Buffalo had opened the scoring. Combined with Kapanen for a couple of other good shots. 2 shots, 2 blocks, 2 hits. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST 0.
#74 Stu Skinner, 9. The big stopper got on the right end of a 3-2 scoreline after dropping his prior two starts by that exact count. Was nothing short of sensational, especially in the final two periods. Stopped 16 of 17 in the middle frame, then 19 of 19 in the third. Impregnable on 3 clear cut breakaways, but they were just the tip of the iceberg on a day his mates struggled to control both the puck and the speed of the Sabres. Faced a whopping 27 Grade A shots in all including 14 of type 5-alarm, totals that would normally produce a blizzard of goals. According to Natural Stat Trick, 4.9 expected goals against; in the estimation of Evolving Hockey, 5.8. But as per Stu Skinner, just 2.0 real goals against and a stolen win for his efforts. 41 shots, 39 saves, .951 save percentage.
#90 Corey Perry, 6. Fired 3 shots on net, including a partial breakaway and a well-placed slot shot through a screen that forced James Reimer’s best stop of the day. 2 giveaways, 2 takeaways. But his best moment occurred away from the puck (though not the action) when his drive to the net front briefly entangled Reimer, enabling Nugent-Hopkins to pop it home at the other post. Surprisingly, Lindy Ruff chose not to challenge, even as it seemed he might have had a case. Score another one for The Worm. GAS: ES +4/-2; ST 0.
#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 4. Brought the physicality as usual, leading the Oilers with 3 hits. Had nothing going on offensively with 0 shot attempts and little connection with his linemates. Failed to contain a pass on the first Buffalo goal. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. The offensive hero with the tying and winning goals, both at 5v5. Had a fantastic chance early in the game after Reimer made an ill-advised clearing attempt, stepping around the fallen goalie for what seemed to be a sure goal only to have his shot blocked by Owen Power. Managed to jam home the 2-2 by going to the net and cleaning up Kapanen’s leavings, after first making a nifty pass at the blueline to spring the Finn. Scored the winner by slipping his check, then driving the weak side lane to take Nurse’s fine pass and lift it into the roof of the net. GAS: ES +4/-2; ST +0/-1.
Recently at the Cult of Hockey
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