Oiler 5, Avalanche 6 (OT)
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The Edmonton Oilers ended a frustrating week in style on Sunday afternoon, leading several goals and managing to hold a tie through regulation only to be beaten again in gimmick time. Make it EIGHT straight overtime games without a win (including THREE this week alone), this time in a crushing 6-5 loss to their old nemesis Colorado Avalanche.
Achieve 5 consecutive overtime/shootout wins for the Avs over the Oil in the last 11 months, including 4 of the 5 regular games during that span and of course Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.
Edmonton seemed to have that game under control as they opened up a 3-0 lead midway through the second game, but Colorado lost from there. The Oilers clinched a two-goal lead twice in a row, but that wasn’t enough for the tight roster.
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Colorado held a 42-40 advantage on the shot clock in the wide-open affair, including a 21-17 lead in the ice hockey cult‘s record of Class A shots and 12-8 in 5-alert chances – of the latter a dreadful 6 in overtime alone (running count). In contrast, Natural statistics trick The Oilers had 58% of high danger chances and 57% of expected goals. Suffice it to say this game was there to be won, but once again the Oilers couldn’t find a way to seal the deal. Make it 20 goals against over the course of their current 4 games without a win and the problem is clear.
player grades
#2 Evan Bouchard, 5th Very involved in this game with 8 shot attempts (3 at net) and 5 hits including a couple of beauties. Lost a fight and got caught on the wrong side of the ice at 5-4. Burned by Nathan MacKinnon and then unable to deal with the aftermath of the horrific overtime sequence that resulted in 4 Avs shots in a 1 second span, all within 7ft of the net. Was the only oiler to pull a penalty.
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#5 Cody Ceci, 5th Strange play for the homeless defender who was on the ice at 5v5 for 7 goals: 3 for, 4 against. Won a couple of crucial battles along the walls that resulted in goals from Foegele and Janmark and earned two secondary assists for his first points in 24 games. But he was among the defensive culprits with 3 Avs goals, including one that went off his skate and netted. Made some good defensive stops along the way and carved out an early 3v1 with great positioning and a timely stick that tipped the shot into the net. Was tough against the MacKinnon line (14:04). Win the possession battle but lose the goal war.
#10 Derek Ryan, 5th His shield from Alexandar Georgiev was an important part of Barrie’s 4-2 goal. But he lost an important draw in the D-zone in the third game, which led directly to the 5-5.
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#13 Jesse Puljujarvi, 6th Play was just 8:15, during which the Oilers overtook the Avalanche 9-2 and outplayed them 1-0. In that limited time, 2 shots, 2 hits, 1 assist and +1 were recorded. It’s hard to explain why he didn’t get more ice on a day when the Oilers shortened a player due to injury for the second straight game Evander Kane and finally run in the Mile High City with exhaust fumes.
#14 Devin Shores, 6th Ditto for Shore, who only saw ice for 7:30 in his first NHL action since New Year’s Eve. 911 behaved well, making a pretty pass to Barrie for the 4-2 result. 10-4 shot shares, 1 shot, 1 hit and 3/5 = 60% on point – the only oiler north of 50%.
#18 Zach Hyman, 5th Strong ice and singles numbers including 6 shot attempts, 2 hits, 2 takeaways and 1 block. Earned an assist with a nice pass to the Draisaitl goal. Struggled defensively though and was on the ice for 4 goals against a -3 net on the day. Took a Broberg shot to the knee and got hobbled a bit; that may have been a deciding factor when he lost a footrace with Compher in overtime.
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#22 Tyson Barrie, 5. Scored his ninth goal of the season late in the second when he floated an outside wiper through Ryan’s screen and past an unseen Georgiev into the top corner. Arguably one of the culprits at 4-3, making a quick switch for match-up reasons when Oilers cleared the zone after a controversial icing call very early in the third, only to open a lane on his wing (the removed from the bench) that Nathan MacKinnon can exploit.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 5th Was very good for the most part, playing a team high of 25-55, including 4-53 on penalties (4v4) and another 14-16 against MacKinnon at even strength. Oilers had a 20-9 advantage on shots at goal at 5v5 on his clock. Made a great play to keep the puck on the offensive end wall and then fed a perfect centering pass that Foegel slammed into the net to make it 2-0. But he was unable to keep Arturri Lehkonen’s stick for the deflection that saw the game go 5-5 or fend off Mikko Rantanen in the overtime winner, partly due to clever positioning from JT Compher that twice forced Nurse to take his route to change the game.
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#26 Mattias Janmark, 8. A great performance from the winger who played 15:09 at even strength with a 10-4 shot percentage and a 3-0 goal percentage. Added 3:29 on the PK, most among the forwards. Assisted Foegele with a fine pass into goal, then hit with a well-placed slapshot from the slot that restored Edmonton’s lead to 5-3 early in the third. Made a key defensive stop late in the rule to break up a rush just as Colorado looked poised to flood the zone. Also did a great stick check to break a MacKinnon rush early in OT.
#27 Brett Kulak, 5th Has mostly held itself up. 1 shot, 2 hits, 3 blocks and 1 penalty in 18:23.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 7th Played his best game in a while, skating well, fighting for pucks and playing the body. Crushed Josh Manson with a great reverse hit. Had a good defensive sequence where he broke up JT Compher’s attack with a good defensive stick before taking his man straight to the endboards and finishing the check with authority. Made it 3-0 with his usual quick shot from the right circle. A few defensive wobbles, notably a stripped puck by the alert Lehkonen, leading to a breakaway that Campbell thwarted. Led all forwards with 25:04 ice time, with 4 shots, 2 hits and 12/24 = 50% on point.
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#36 Jack Campbell, 4th It’s hard to give a passing grade for 6 goals conceded in a game where the opponent scored only 2.43 expected goals in all situations. Our own counts suggest he’s had a much busier time, dealing with lots of screens and distractions, among other things. Was particularly good in the opening frame with 16 saves, including 6 minutes shorthanded, but showed a few leaks in the second and especially the third when he was unable to level a 4-2 lead in the second game in a row. MacKinnon’s angled shot, which hit him on the short side just 26 seconds into the frame, set the stage. Unable to hold his post at 5-4, an agonizing sequence that saw the puck under the edge of his pad for what seemed like 5 seconds without a whistle. Made a series of great stops right at the goal line in the fifth minute of extra time but that only added another 9 seconds to the inevitable before Rantanen passed him to pocket the game winner. 42 shots, 36 saves, 0.857 percent save.
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#37 Warren Foegele, 7th Took two unnecessary penalties just 2:11 apart in the opening frame but his buddies had his back and killed both of them. He retaliated with a strong performance, including the first two goals of the game, both of which came from going to the net, receiving a pass and pounding the puck on goal. Made an important play to clear the zone and allow a switch after two icings on his line.
#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 5th A much better performance than his return from injury on Friday. Part of the problem with the first Colorado goal when he was one of 3 Oilers (also Ceci, McDavid) shielding Campbell. 3 shots into the net, all class A shots but unable to untie Georgiev. His best appearance was a breakaway, where he shot around a falling defender and in alone, but couldn’t finish. That would have made it 6-3, but no.
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#71 Ryan McLeod, 7th Another strong game from the young Pivot, highlighted in these eyes by an excellent work on the penalty shootout. Has shown a good defensive stick on a few occasions that has directly or indirectly led to zone clears. Inflicted a nice pass to Janmark on the edge of the crease to get a second assist for Foegele’s first goal. 0 shot attempts of any kind, however. 16:43 TOI including 3:06 on the PK.
#86 Philip Broberg, 5. Delivered 18 minutes of reliable low event hockey including 3 minutes of PK task. 0 involvement in Class A shots at both ends of the arc, not an easy task in this game.
#93 Ryan Nugent Hopkins, 4th Wonderful no-look pass to Draisaitl to make it 3-0. But had his defensive problems with 2 goals in the third period and the winner in overtime. Lost the D-Zone faceoff to the latter, a career-long weakness for this player that proved costly on this occasion. I attribute some of this to the coach who had several better options at his disposal and a timeout in his fanny pack. It was only his third draw of the game, all defeats.
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#97 Connor McDavid, 4th Played 24:45 with 4 shots at the net and 11/23=48% to the point, with boxcars of 0-1-1, dash-2. Involved in creating 7 Class A shots including both an assist and a great goalie screen on Janmark’s tally. But had a really tough time at the other end, marked with 9 Grade A shots against including the 4 shot barrage in OT. Small but important mistakes in 3 Avs goals: a sight protection by own goalie, a turnover and a legal pass, all of which ended up in the back net. Unfortunately, Oilers has only had one opportunity on the power play where he has done so much of his damage this season.
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