Jets 2, Oilers 3
Just a whale of a hockey game at Rogers Place on Saturday, as Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets squared off for 60 sensational minutes of swift skating, staunch defending, superb puck movement and stellar netminding. Both teams were missing a large number of important regulars to injury, but it slowed them down not one whit in a battle of playoff-level intensity.
In the end the Oilers were one goal better, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins converted a lovely Leon Draisaitl feed to break a 2-2 tie with 5 minutes to play and netminder Mike Smith made it stand up, leading the Oil to a vital 3-2 regulation win.
Give the Jets credit, they came hard in the second half of the game and continued to right to the end, applying a ridiculous amount of pressure during a 2-minute powerplay followed by 2½ more minutes of 6v5 that saw the puck seemingly locked in Edmonton’s end of the ice. The visitors pumped 41 shots on net, 19 in the final period alone, but Smith had the answers. While the shots of 41-22 indicate a one-sided advantage for the Jets, they held a much slimmer 17-16 margin in Grade A scoring chances, a high number for both teams.
Another difference maker for Edmonton were their special teams. The Oil went 2-for-2 on both the powerplay and the penalty kill, just enough to pull out the win in a game they were outscored 2-1 at 5v5.
Player grades
#4 Kris Russell, 5. Played a tick under 15 minutes in his first appearance in a calendar month, and spent most of that time in his own end of the ice. Oilers were outshot 7-1 while Russell was victimized on 4 Grade A chances against in that time. Fared a little better on the penalty kill. “Rusty” was more than a nickname on this night.
#6 Adam Larsson, 7. Formed a very effective pairing with Jones, with both men skating well and moving the puck sharply. Larsson made a lot of strong decisions with the puck, not trying to do too much with it while consistently moving it in the right direction or at least funneling it away from the danger areas. His unsuccessful pinch in the neutral zone was part of the problem on the first Winnipeg goal, but he made up for that with an assist on the game winner, holding the blue line and putting the puck where it might do the most good.
#15 Josh Archibald, 5. Played his customary high-octane game. Showed his wheels time and again, including a won race to cancel an icing that was an early sign the Oilers meant business. Drew a penalty. Had one out-of-body experience when he pulled up inside the blueline on a rush and laid a drop-dead-gorgeous backhand sauce pass into open ice that Jones skated onto to create a scoring chance. Has earned the trust of his coach to protect a lead in the last minute, and did his part again in this one.
#16 Jujhar Khaira, 6. Stretched his goalless drought to a painful 30 games, but not for lack of effort or opportunity. Went hard to the net to try to corral a Chiasson rebound but was unable to get a friendly bounce. Minutes later he was again in great position to fire a hard wrist shot from the slot, but it rang the crossbar. Had a third excellent chance on the penalty kill late in the third but couldn’t solve Connor Hellebuyck. Checked diligently and got the job done on the PK.
#23 Riley Sheahan, 4. His line with Archibald and P.Russell had one awful shift in the second during which Winnipeg scored both their goals. Sheahan was among the victims on the first of those. His line did make up for it by drawing bothWinnipeg penalties, each of which resulted in an Edmonton powerplay goal. Did chip in on 3 chances at the good end, including a sneaky deflection of his own that tested Hellebuyck. Got the job done on the PK and posted 7/13=54% on the dot.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 5. Let the d-corps in all 6 ice time categories, logging 26:11 in all situations including 3:36 of the final 4:44 when the Oilers were mostly down a man. By eye he played a strong game, skating well and winning a lot of battles. By number he struggled, as the Jets fired a staggering 34 shot attempts during his 19½ minutes at 5v5. Nurse was himself among the culprits on 5 Grade A scoring chances, notably the 2-1 goal in which he locked in on the puck and lost track of his man, the crafty Kyle Connor, who delayed his move to the net and got open for Blake Wheeler’s pass which he instantly converted. Made some key defensive plays down the stretch.
#28 Andreas Anathasiou, 4. An underwhelming home debut for his new team, which saw him produce 0 shots on net, chip in on 0 Grade A chances, and eventually play his way off the McDavid line. Not much damage defensively other than one weak backcheck. The one time he got his legs moving to join a McDavid rush he mishandled the puck and that was that.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 9. Yet another brilliant performance by the German, who had the hometown fans chanting “MVP, MVP” at times. Opened the scoring by converting a McDavid powerplay feed for his 100th point of the season, in the process becoming just the seventh Oiler to hit the century two seasons in a row. Some pretty good company: five Hall of Famers plus Connor McDavid. Made a dazzling rush minutes later with an outside-to-inside move leading to a powerful shot from close range. Leon was far from done, connecting for a second powerplay tally (his 15th of the year) when he tipped home a McDavid shot-pass to even the count at 2-2 in the dying seconds of the middle frame. Then set up the game-winner at even strength with a splendid play where he protected the puck along the boards, then found a breaking RNH with a perfectly-timed and weighted short dish that freed #93 for the lethal wrister that would decide the game. 4 shots on net to again lead the team, along with a pristine combination of 3 takeaways, 0 giveaways.
#39 Alex Chiasson, 5. Part of the lethal powerplay that tied the game late in the second, where his best contribution was a beautiful one-touch pass to RNH who was flat-out robbed by Hellebuyck. Weak possession numbers but no serious problems on the defensive side of the puck.
#41 Mike Smith, 9. Delivered one of his very best performances of the season at a time his team badly needed it. Strong throughout, he really amped it up in the third period when he stopped all 19 shots — and all 9 Grade A chances — he faced. Had Mark Scheifele’s number all night, most importantly a blocker save off a partial breakaway less than a minute before Edmonton scored the game winner. Robbed Nikolaj Ehlers several times, and stuffed Jack Roslovic’s against-the-grain deke with a mammoth pad stop. Once the Oilers did regain the lead, Smith was a wall down the stretch. His puckhandling was an adventure with some good moments, some risky ones. 41 shots, 39 saves, .951 save percentage.
#44 Zack Kassian, 5. Finally back in the line-up after paying his debt to society for bringing a knife to a fist fight. All he brought this time was some energy, which he put to good use skating and forechecking as the third wheel on the Drai-Nuge line. Just 1 shot, but managed to hit the crossbar on a weird deflection that nearly bounced his way. Delivered 3 hits but was charged with 4 giveaways, a large number for a guy who handles the puck as rarely as he does. Another entry for the “rusty” file.
#52 Patrick Russell, 5. Came within an ace of scoring his long-overdue first NHL goal, but was denied by Hellebuyck. His line with Sheahan and Archibald held its own by all shot metrics, but were burned for both Winnipeg goals on the counter attack.
#63 Tyler Ennis, 7. Made a strong impression in his home debut in his home town, bringing speed, energy and purpose. Seems to have the ability to create danger out of nothing. Chipped in on 3 Grade A chances for Oilers, while adding 3 hits. Strong defensively.
#74 Ethan Bear, 5. Was posterized by Blake Wheeler on the second Jets goal as the giant skill forward dangled the puck right through Bear, who was too mesmerized by the flashy stickhandling to remember to take the man. Oops. His pairing was under the gun defensively, though Bear put out a couple of fires with some courageous shot blocking, officially 3 blocks on the night including a couple of rockets.
#82 Caleb Jones, 7. The rookie was absolutely flying in this one, darting here, there and everywhere with confidence and pizzazz. Distributed the puck efficiently, and was dangerous himself inside the offensive blueline. Was beaten on the first Jets goal, and took an accidental penalty in the late going which caused some anxious moments, but his overall contribution was overwhelmingly positive. Oilers dominated the puck on his watch, holding a 20-8 edge in 5v5 shot attempts with Jones on the ice vs. an ugly 23-48 with him on the bench.
#83 Matt Benning, 4. He and his partner K.Russell both returned to action and were a step behind this frenetically-paced affair much of the night. Oilers were outshot by a ghastly 11-1 during Benning’s 14 even strength minutes, though they did manage to saw off the scoreboard, thanks in large part to Smith who had Benning’s back on 3 different occasions.
#91 Gaetan Haas, 5. The only Oiler below 10 minutes at 8:21. Did his job in that limited time but didn’t have a strong influence on the game in either direction.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 9. Earned secondary assists on both Edmonton powerplay goals with a pair of critical contributions. On the first, he battled to keep the play alive, then made a deft chip to McDavid to key the centring pass. On the second, a gorgeous saucer pass from behind the goal line to McDavid at the top of the circle. Looked after the winning goal himself when he read the play and hopped into a lane to take Draisaitl’s deft pass and fire his patented wrister just inside the stick side post. Is on an extended heater with 13 goals and 33 points over his last 24 games. Did take a (deserved) penalty, seconds after he had himself been fouled with no call.
#97 Connor McDavid, 8. Another routinely excellent game, which included a pair of primary assists on the lethal powerplay. The first was a lovely cross-seam backhand feed which Drai slammed into the net, the second a hard shot-pass that the German could scarecely avoid tipping it home from the low slot. Was all over the puck at other times, being in the middle if 8 Grade A looks, 4 shots off his own stick among them. The powerplay unit’s struggled to gain the offensive zone magically disappeared the moment #97 was in the lineup. 4 giveaways, 2 takeaways, and a lingering impression he’s still not fully over his recent injury. Even at 90% he’s a major difference-maker.
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