Blue Jackets 1, Oilers 4
Mikko Koskinen picked a great time to stand up and be counted. Just at a time when his Edmonton Oilers teammates collectively lost their skating legs, Koskinen delivered a pair of brilliant performances that garnered the Oilers four huge points they didn’t fully deserve. First he stopped 42 of 43 drives in Dallas on Tuesday as the Oilers snuck out of town with a 2-1 overtime win. Then he came on in relief in Chicago with his team down 4-1, slammed the door and helped spark a comeback that just fell short. Back in Edmonton on Saturday, he faced another barrage of rubber as the Oilers grimly held on to a 1-0 lead seemingly all night long. Koskinen stopped the first 45 shots he faced, losing his shutout in the final minute after the game was safely in hand. But as in Dallas, he was by far the primary reason the Oilers emerged from a largely one-sided game with two valuable points.
The first period was especially painful to watch for Oil fans. After Alex Chiasson gave the club the lead on the game’s first shot, the Blue Jackets completely took command, peppering Koskinen with 21 shots before the buzzer finally, mercifully, sounded. The home team struggled to make or take a pass, to make good decisions with the puck or to win it back after they’d coughed up possession. Shift after shift saw the puck locked into Edmonton’s zone, the visitors surging but unable to solve Koskinen.
But as the old saying goes, “they don’t ask how, they just ask how many”, and “how many” for the Oilers is now 82 points, based on a 37-24-8 record through 69 games. That puts them in an exact tie with Vegas Golden Knights for first place, with Edmonton listed first by virtue of a couple more regulation wins. The two teams will meet head-to-head in Edmonton on Monday night.
It was the fourth straight win for Edmonton over Columbus, by scores of 4-0, 4-1, 4-1, 4-1. Total domination, right? But whereas the earlier victories — especially the two in Columbus — were largely deserved, this one was a classic example of winning ugly. The Blue Jackets outshot the Oilers by a ghastly 46-24, and had a massive 17-9 edge in Grade A scoring chances. What the visitors did not have, however, was the better goalie.
Player grades
#4 Kris Russell, 5. Struggled mightily to move the puck, and spent far too much time chasing it in his end as a result. Did manage an assist on the winning goal with a rote D-to-D pass along the blueline to Jones.
#6 Adam Larsson, 4. His turnover in the game’s first minute set the stage for what was to come. Victimized on 5 Grade A chances. Did some solid grinding in the trenches, even as he struggled to move the puck, especially on his backhand. Made one important stop with a sliding play to cut out a pass. Made a strong rush to the net but was hooked down just as Draisaitl’s pass arrived, crashing hard into the goal frame. Ended the night with a +3 rating.
#15 Josh Archibald, 4. Oilers’ checking line were playing chase all night, getting caved by all possession numbers. Archibald was among the culprits on 4 Grade A scoring chances against, none for. He had not so much as a shot attempt or even a hit. But he escaped unscathed with an assist and a +1 thanks to a blocked shot in the final minute which Sheahan recovered and lobbed into the empty net.
#16 Jujhar Khaira, 6. A strong physical presence with 4 hits and, more importantly, 2 goalie screens that were instrumental to the game’s first two goals. Charged with 3 giveaways but had a clean sheet in terms of mistakes on Grade A chances. Took a penalty. 4/9=44% on the dot in his third straight game at pivot.
#18 James Neal, 5. Had identical boxcars to his linemate Khaira (0-1-1, +2, 2 PiM) on a night the bottom six looked after most of the scoring. His passes were part of the build-up to the game’s first two goals.
#19 Mikko Koskinen, 9. Absolutely brilliant right out of the gate, and had to be in a first period that saw him turn aside all 21 shots he faced. Among the 9 Grade A chances in that opening period were a number of point blank drives. After a quieter middle frame he faced 16 more shots in the final frame. Had Zack Werenski’s number in particular, stopping the 20-goal blueliner no fewer than 8 times. Was a minute away from a brilliant shutout but alas, it wasn’t to be. In 2½ games for the Oil this week, he stopped 97 of 99 shots including 38 of 40 of the Grade A variety. 46 shots, 45 saves, .978 save percentage.
#23 Riley Sheahan, 4. Dominated in flow of play to the tune of 2 shots for, 13 against during his 10 even strength minutes. As with Archibald he did chip in on the penalty kill. Blocked 3 shots. Drew a late penalty and scored an even later empty-net goal from 148 feet away to seal the win. 10/17=59% on the dot.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 5. Was among the most energetic and proactive Oilers. Made a number of strong plays on the puck. Found a soft spot in the Columbus defence to get open for a cross-ice feed from Ennis, and was denied by a fine stop by Joonas Korpisalo. Made a splendid defensive play to stop a dangerous Pierre-Luc Dubois rush in open ice, but took a borderline roughing penalty in its aftermath. Was the nearest Oiler on the scene when Eric Robinson took a chop at Koskinen, and didn’t take kindly to it at all, engaging the interloper in a spirited scrum. 3 shots, 3 hits.
#28 Andreas Athanasiou, 4. A few moments here and there, but looked like a fish out of water on the checking line.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 4. Another Oiler who couldn’t find his rhythm and had his struggles behind his own blueline. Finally came on in the third period when his line started to dominate possession, even as they couldn’t find the back of the net. Set up his new linemate Ennis a few times but no finish was forthcoming. A rare pointless night ended badly when Draisaitl made a series of poor plays and decisions in the final minute that collectively cost Koskinen his shutout. Just 1 shot on net, but led all forwards again with ice time of 21:06. 14/24=58% on the dot.
#39 Alex Chiasson, 7. Became the eighth Oilers forwards to hit double digits in goals when he opened the scoring just 3 minutes in with a slapper through traffic which caught a favourable deflection on the way through. Chipped in an assist on the 2-0 tally over 52 minutes later with a simple pass on the cycle. Had one other good shot on net, and zero issues on the defensive side of the puck.
#44 Zack Kassian, 5. Struggled mightily to make or take a pass, or to shoot the puck in deep for that matter. Made amends for a sloppy night with a nifty pass in tight to the net that McDavid tapped home for the 3-0.
#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 5. Pesky on the puck as usual, and contributed to a couple of strong cycles in the final play. Took a nasty blow under the eye from a wicked high stick by Riley Nash which somehow went unnoticed by the officials on a night the Oilers mustered just a single powerplay.
#63 Tyler Ennis, 6. Generated a few scoring opportunities with his new linemates Draisaitl and Yamamoto but struggled to finish, twice taking a puck from an open spot in the slot to behind the net, not exactly the high-danger area. All 3 of his shots were dangerous, including a fine mid-air tip of an outside shot that tested Korpisalo. Made a fine cross-ice pass to Nurse for a dangerous chance. Chipped in a strong defensive stop in the early going. Led the club in all three of shots (3), hits (4) and takeaways (2).
#74 Ethan Bear, 4. Among the many Oilers d-men who wilted at times under the heavy Columbus forecheck. One bad turnover led directly to a great chance, but once again Koskinen bailed out his teammate(s).
#77 Oscar Klefbom, 4. A weird admixture of polish and rust on his return to the line-up. Showed his quality here and there with a slick play or pass, but the “simple” plays were anything but at times. Still wound up a tidy +3 on the night, even as he had little to do with the scoring plays. Did make a nice stretch pass in the build-up to the first tally. Credited with 4 hits to lead the Oilers, a rare honour for the smooth defender.
#82 Caleb Jones, 5. His pairing with Russell struggled to move the puck. Delivered the first game-winning goal of his career with a quick-release wrist shot from the right point which took a slight deflection and fooled Koripisalo. Drew the lone Oilers powerplay when he was clipped by a knee-on-knee check.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 4. Switched out from the Draisaitl line to the McDavid line which doesn’t sound like a hardship, but he had lots of trouble clicking. The play died on his stick multiple times, including twice on the Oilers’ one and only powerplay of the night, which went nowhere as a result. One slow line change aborted a McDavid rush by putting the play offside (though barely). Just 1 shot on net. But earned a late assist when he won a puck battle in the corner and fed Kassian in the slot.
#97 Connor McDavid, 5. Reportedly playing through some sort of illness, and it showed. Second straight game where he was involved in but a single Grade A scoring chance, a long way from his usual output. The good news was that one chance was turned into a goal when McDavid tapped home Kassian’s fine pass to stretch the lead to 3-0. Had his struggles at the other end as well, with few sightings of his trademark speed. 7/13=54% on the dot and an honest effort under tough circumstances.
