Player grades: Not enough goals, not enough saves as Oilers fall 4-3

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Canucks 4, Oilers 3

Where have we seen this movie before? The Edmonton Oilers dominated the Vancouver Canucks in every statistical aspect except the one that matters, somehow finding a way to drop a 4-3 decision.

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• Sources: NHL.com, NaturalStatTrick.com, Cult of Hockey (running count)

Yes I know, “statistics are for losers”, and they certainly were on this night.

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What these numbers do not accurately reflect is score effects, which were a massive factor in the flow of play over the final 40 minutes as the Oilers fought the good fight to get back in the game. Trouble was they didn’t play the opening 20 with anywhere near the same intensity, especially defensively. They were in fact outshot 11-9 in that frame and outscored 3-1. From then on, shots were 36-7 Edmonton but the score just 2-1 in their favour.

Golatending was a big story, as Arturs Silovs stopped 42 of 45 shots in the Vancouver cage. He got help from his posts on 4 different occasions, and had a like number of emergency plays where the puck got behind him in the blue paint, even winning a video review on one that didn’t conclusively cross the goal line. He also withstood strong Oilers thrusts in the dying seconds of all three periods. At the other end Stu Skinner had a rough outing stopping just 11 of 15 and was pulled after 40 minutes.

It was a nasty affair, starting with Mattias Ekholm getting decked twice in the opening seconds and Connor McDavid getting felled by an ugly pair of crosschecks after the final whistle.

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Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 8. Ended the night with a goal and an assist while leading the team in shots (6), shot attempts (14) and ice time (a whopping 31:24). His 13:48 in the final frame is the largest such figure I can recall. Kept his head while others around him struggled to do so. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +4/-1; Special Teams +3/-0.

#5 Cody Ceci, 4. Played OK for the most part, but was unable to cut out a kep pass in the immediate aftermath of Foegele’s turnover on the 3-1. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.

#10 Derek Ryan, 5. Had a pair of great chances in the final minute of the first. Was unable to tuck home a loose rebound in the blue paint, largely because Canucks netminder Arturs Silovs alertly grabbed Ryan’s stick to take the steam off his shot, which Quinn Hughes saved on the goal line. Ryan then rang tthe goal post with a strong shot in the last second of the first. Charged with a team-high 3 giveaways, a rare stat for the crafty vet. Slightly out of position on the 1-1. Played just 7:33. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-1.

#13 Mattias Janmark, 5. Made a nice back pass to Brown for a good chance, otherwise quiet. Played just 6:18. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.

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#14 Mattias Ekholm, 6. Sent crashing to the ice twice in rapid succession on the game’s opening sequence, belted first by Elias Lindholm, then Dakota Joshua with clean but heavy hits. Scored the game’s opening goal on the powerplay, a rare second-unit tally when he hopped on a favourable bounce of a blocked shot and flipped it home. Added a pirmary assist on the game’s final tally as well. Beaten by a pass at even strength on the 2-1, and by a shot on the powerplay on the 4-2. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST +1/-1.

#18 Zach Hyman, 7. Played 26:12 and sepnt much of it in the trenches, where he took a beating from opponents and teammates (a.k.a.. “friendly fire”) alike. Fired 8 shots on net to lead both teams. His best moment might have been the terrific screen he set that helped enable Draisaitl’s powerplay goal. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +4/-0.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 6. Earned an assist on the second-unit powerplay goal. Was in the box himself for a Vancouver powerplay goal on what the Sportsnet panel agreed was an “awful” call for crosschecking. Kept a clean sheet defensively, even as he was dinged with a -1 on the 3-1. Played just 18:03,a low figure for this workhorse. 4 shots, 3 hits. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST +1/-0.

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#27 Brett Kulak, 5. Solid enough on the back end. 2 shots, 2 blocks, 3 hits. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.

#28 Connor Brown, 5. Got a fair bit done in limited ice time. Set up Desharnais with a nice pass. Fired a shot off the outside of the post off a splendid Janmark setup. Played just 8:02. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST 0.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 8. Played over 29 minutes. Had a rough go of it in the first period when he was targeted for several hits, including a series of J.T. Miller crosschecks in the back. Drew the penalty that led to the first Oilers goal, but was in the box himself for the 1-1 for a borderline interference call. Scored the goal that drew Edmonton back into the game on his patented Executioner’s Shot, rang the post on another great chance minutes later, then earned an assist on Bouchard’s late tally. Involved in 10 Grade A’s at the good end, none at all at the bad. 5 shots, 2 giveaways, 2 takeaways, 10/19=53% in the faceoff circle. Now leads the playoff scoring race with 18 points in 8 games. GAS: ES +7/-0; ST 0.

#30 Calvin Pickard, 6. Took over the net for the third period, most of which was spent roughly 200 feet away from him. Held the fort. Is now at the epicentre of the “who should start next game?” controversy.  3 shots, 3 saves, 1.000 points percentage.

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#37 Warren Foegele, 3. Recovered the puck in his own territory only to throw it away right in the slot, his teammates breaking in the wrong direction, leading directly to the 3-1 goal very late in the first. Had some OK moments at other times in the game (3 very decent shots) but that one massive blunder stands out as his impactful moment. Played just 8:45 with no points and a well-earned dash-1. GAS: ES +2/-1. ST 0.

#55 Dylan Holloway, 5. Brought the physicality with 4 hits, tying Kane for the team lead. Made a nice pass to set up a Nurse chance. His 11:25 seems paltry, but actually ranked sixth (!) among Oilers forwards in TOI. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.

#71 Ryan McLeod, 6. One of just two Oilers with 0 shots, and of just five with 0 hits. Fair to say neither of those things are his strengths, which shone through on the 3 Grade A’s to which he did contribute:

• a fine defensive play deep in his own territory in which he picked off a dangerous pass, took it the other way in a hurry, dished it to Kane in full stride who wired it off the post;
• a splendid one-touch backhand pass to Perry with the net yawning in front of him;
• a won race to a hard shoot-in leading to a quick cycle with Perry to Foegele for a booming shot.

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Just as notable, 0 issues on Grade A shots at the bad end. As the analyst Bill James wrote in his earliest Baseball Abstract, in baseball speed is the one weapon that has value both offensively and defensively, and surely the same theory applies to hockey. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST 0. 

#73 Vincent Desharnais, 3. Took a beating on his signature duty, the penalty kill, which was burned twice on his watch. Was deemed among the culprits on both. Did have a good hard shot on net from the low slot but Silovs had the answers for the chaos that ensued. Played just 8 minutes at even strength, 8:01 at even strength, and saw the ice for a mere 45 seconds in the third period. Hmm. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +0/-3.

#74 Stu Skinner, 3. Beaten early and often, he allowed 3 in the first and another in the second. Found himself on the bench thereafter, save a brief cameo late in the third, a ploy of Kris Knoblauch to get his gasping stars a slightly longer rest after a whistle. Hard to blame him specifically on those goals, the first 3 scored on poorly defended Brock Boeser drives, one of them deflected. But no saves to be found. The fourth a.k.a. the game winner rankles this observer a bit more, when Elias Lindholm drove the puck in tight to the net and managed to find a crack in Skinner and shovel the puck home. Oilers could have used some of the fierce resistance to that hard charge as they encountered, repeatedly, at the far end of the sheet. 15 shots, 11 saves, .733 save percentage.

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#90 Corey Perry, 6. One of his better games, but still no joy on the scoresheet. Came oh so close on a second period setup from McLeod that would have been a tap-in had he not been held by Filip Hronek on the play. His weak shot may actually have crossed goal line, but we’ll never know. The good news is the drawn penalty led to an Oilers powerplay goal. Had a fine pass on another Grade A shot and a terrific screen on Ryan’s post-ringer. Still pointless in the playoffs though and the frustration is starting to build. Played just 9:45. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST 0.

#91 Evander Kane, 6. Skated hard, frequently barging up-ice with the puck on his stick. 4 shot attempts, the best of which cleanly beat Silovs but rang the post. Earned an assist on the game’s first goal when his hard shot took a deflection right to Ekholm. 4 hits to co-lead the Oilers, though his most notable encounter occurred when hulking Nikita Zadorov dumped him unceremoniously into the Oilers bench. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +1/-0.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 5. Played 22:32 with just 1 shot on net. Struggled on the dot with just 4/14=29%. Among those burned on Vancouver’s first powerplay goal, he made up for that with a terrific pass to Draisaitl for a primary assist on Edmonton’s own powerplay. Quiet at even strength. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +3/-2, with all 6 of those events at 5v4, 4v5, or 6v5.

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#97 Connor McDavid, 6. Played 29:42, nearly half of the game. That’s a new season high, a minute and a half more than the season high he set last game. That’s a huge investment in any game, never mind a loss. McDavid played a part in that loss, losing his man (Boeser) on the second Vancouver goal. Most nights he will make up for that at the other end of the sheet, but on this one he was shut out for the first time these playoffs. 4 shots, 3 hits, and plenty of determined play, but no joy. His night ended in the worst possible fashion: a near miss on the doorstep in the last second of play, then a double crosscheck in the small of the back from Zadorov and directly in the face from Carson Soucy as the Canucks found a unique way to celebrate a win. It was nasty business; expect fallout from the Department of Player Safety and/or the Department of Teammates. GAS: ES +5/-2; ST +2/-0.

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Player grades:

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