Warren Foegele brought his best game, Leon Draisaitl brought his “A” game, and the Edmonton Oilers generally did the same, all of it adding up to be too much for the Ottawa Senators.
Edmonton won the contest 6-3. Grade A shots were 16 for Edmonton, 13 for the Senators, with the subset of even more dangerous 5-alarm shots gong nine for Edmonton, eight for the Senators (running count).
Connor McDavid, 6. Super quiet first period, no shots, but he did drive a Grade A on net early in the second. He made a fine low-high pass to set up Drasaitl’s second goal. He set up Ceci for a dangerous slot shot in the third. He made a fine PK clearance in the third. Two point night due to the empty net goal.
Evander Kane, 5. He’s yet to find his form after two injuries. His bad line change led to an early Brady Tkachuk break-in opportunity. He almost slammed home a McDavid slot feed in the second. He poked the puck loose and got a break-in chance half way through the third. He made a decent board play to get the puck to McDavid on the empty-net goal.
Leon Draisaitl, 8. He had a huge game at even strength, a good sign for the Oilers. He bashed in a slot shot for Edmonton’s second goal. He started off the Virtuous Cycle on Edmonton’s third goal by blocking a zone clearance. He got off a rare Executioner’s Shot at even strength to pound in his second goal of the game and 100th point of the season. He picked off an errant pass in the o-zone slot in the third and almost scored on a backhander. He pounded Jacob Chychrun into the boards with a hard shoulder-to-shoulder hit in the third. He led the team with six shots and won 16 out of 23 face-offs. He led the Oilers with seven major contributions to Grade A shots.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. He made a mid-ice steal and quick pass on Draisaitl’s first goal. He was slow to recognize the danger on Ottawa’s short-handed goal, which led to their 2-on-1 rush. He slammed a harpoon into the back of great white opposition net for Edmonton’s third goal. A moment later a loose puck popped to him and he fired another 5-alarmer off the post.
Nick Bjugstad, 6. He made a brilliant move to his backhand to stick the deadly dagger into Ottawa in the last second of the second period, giving Edmonton a 5-2 lead.
Klim Kostin, 5. He threw a huge and wicked hit late in the second. Quiet game otherwise. He played just 7:24.
Derek Ryan, 6. Fantastic shot to score on the break-in for the game’s first goal; he put it top shelf where Momma keeps the cookies, as the famous Edmonton skills coach Jim Fleming always likes to say His line had a few more buzzing shifts, but he got beat out of the corner by Drake Batherson on Ottawa’s third goal.
Devin Shore, 6. He made a clever and calm n-zone pass in the build to Ryan’s early goal.
Ryan McLeod, 6. Slick pass to Ryan on Edmonton’s first goal. He left the game for the third period, not sure why.
Cody Ceci, 7. He was hard-matched against Brady Tkachuk and his line, but held his own. He had a 5-alarm slot shot off a McDavid feed in the third.
Mattias Ekholm, 7. He made a slick pass to send in Bjugstad on his late second period goal. Was otherwise his solid self.
Evan Bouchard, 6. High event night. He failed to cut off the pass on Ottawa’s 2-on-1 shorthanded goal. He let Stutzle get away from him in the slot for a 5-alarm short in the second. He picked off a pass to start and almost finish an attacking play with a nasty one-timer shot on net in the second. He fired a power play shot off the post. He won a board battle, kicking off the sequence on Draisaitl’s second goal. He kept things a little too interesting with an atrocious turnover on a pass through the defensive slot late in the third, picked off by Claude Giroux.
Brett Kulak, 6. Quiet game, which is fine for a d-man. Nothing too bad or good. He kept a clean sheet at even strength, not one major mistake on a Grade A shot against.
Stuart Skinner, 7. He could do nothing on Ottawa’s first goal but made a fine stop a moment later on a dangerous Giroux tip. He had little chance on Stutzle’s shorthanded goal. He made a lunging stop on Stutzle in the second with Edmonton holding yet another of its one-goal lead. Failed to close down Stutzle’s fast slot shot on Ottawa’s third goal. Two huge saves off that rancid Bouchard turnover late in the third.
