Sports
Edmonton Oilers turn in a rock-solid, 2-way effort in 4-1 win over Dallas
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Here is the tale of the tape…
Cult of Hockey Player Grades
STUART SKINNER. 8. Stuart Skinner gave the club the saves it needed tonight. A quiet 1st Period against Dallas but was put to work in the 2nd and he delivered. Made a fine stop on Pavelski through a screen, then stuffed Benn short-side moments later. Then, a tremendous blocker save off Benn yet again through an impossible screen by Hintz. Fine positional save off a dangerous Lindell tip early in the 2nd. Finished off his night with a good save on Hintz in the 3rd and the Dallas goaltender out. Stopped 25 of 26. Named the game’s 1st Star.
EVANDER KANE. 5. Finished a check hard on Dellandrea as the latter attempted to drive the net. Good net drive on a 2nd Period PP but could not scoop home the rebound. No luck on a rebound off a McDavid rush a couple shifts later, either. 4 hits. Drew the tripping call that led to the 3-1 PP goal. Rang the post on the man advantage.
DARNELL NURSE. 6. A neutral zone turnover in the 2nd but made up for it with an excellent close on Pavelski seconds later. Got neither puck nor man on the 2-1 goal against. 2 shots, 2 hits, 2 blocks. But High Dangers 5v5 were 4-6.
LEON DRAISAITL. 7. No assist but integral in the sequence leading to the 1-0, 29 really had his feet moving on the play. Threw a fantastic pass through to Nugent-Hopkins who could not finish. Fed McDavid from behind the net for a point-blank chance in the 2nd. Hard, on-the-tape pass across the ice to a waiting McDavid for the 3-1. Power drive up the middle a shift later, probably should have been a call on the play. 61% on draws against an excellent faceoff team.
RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS. 7. Had numerous chances, 4 shots in all. A head’s-up pass to Foegele net-side on the 1-0 goal. Just missed depositing a rebound off a 1st Period shot by Ceci. Had another opportunity in the same frame off a terrific Draisaitl pass. Steal and clear with the Dallas net empty. 5v5 CF 17-7, 71%.
MATTIAS EKHOLM. 8. A tower of strength. A neat pickpocket of Jamie Benn deep in the Oilers zone in the 1st. Calm clear on the 1st Period PK, too. A couple zone clears on a 2nd Period PK. Led the club in ice time with 22:38 of work. 2 blocked shots. 4 takeaways and +3. Ala Bob Stauffer, Ekholm is +13 in 8 games as an Edmonton Oiler.
EVAN BOUCHARD. 8. Managed the puck quite well. A smart defensive play early, when he cleared a puck out of his own crease. A clever shot pass got the puck through traffic where Nugent-Hopkins and Foegele teamed up on the 1-0. A well-deserved assist on the play. This pair was excellent. Named 3rd star.
KLIM KOSTIN. 4. Had some serious issues handling the puck along the wall. Blocked a shot. O-zone takeaway led to a 3rd period chance. But did not have a good go and was crushed in the shot shares in limited work.
MATTIAS JANMARK. 7. Drove the net hard on a 2-on-1 with McDavid and knifed home a terrific pass from 97 to make it 2-0. Excellent play along the wall to clear the zone under pressure early in the 3rd. Salted this one away with an empty netter late against his old team.
BRETT KULAK. 6. Whistled for a highly suspect, “barely there” hook late in the 2nd. Allowed just a single High Danger chance against.
DEREK RYAN. 5. Diving clear on the 1st Period PK. Drew a 2nd Period hook.
DEVIN SHORE. 5. Smart blocked shot and clear on a 2nd Period PK.
PHILIP BROBERG. 5. High Dangers 5v5 3-1 with him on the ice. Light night, just 9:02, but a shot, a block and +1. To his credit, most of his shifts were on the right side. Not always an easy assignment.
The Oilers are now 38-23-8, 84 points. That is good for 3rd in the Pacific, 3 up on Seattle where the Oilers are headed next.
Find me on Twitter @KurtLeavins, on Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and now on Mastodon at KurtLeavins@mstdn.social
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Maple Leafs Game 3 Notebook: Scrutiny shifts to Marner, pressure to Bruins – Sportsnet.ca
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Sports
"Laugh it off": Evander Kane says Oilers won’t take the bait against Kings | Offside
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The LA Kings tried every trick in the book to get the Edmonton Oilers off their game last night.
Hacks after the whistle, punches to the face, and interference with line changes were just some of the things that the Oilers had to endure, and throughout it all, there was not an ounce of retaliation.
All that badgering by the Kings resulted in at least two penalties against them and fuelled a red-hot Oilers power play that made them pay with three goals on four chances. That was by design for Edmonton, who knew that LA was going to try to pester them as much as they could.
That may have worked on past Oilers teams, but not this one.
“We’ve been in a series now for the third year in a row with these guys,” Kane said after practice this morning. “We know them, they know us… it’s one of those things where maybe it makes it a little easier to kind of laugh it off, walk away, or take a shot.
“That type of stuff isn’t gonna affect us.”
EDM LAK G1. April 22, 2024. Pierre-Luc Dubois interference penalty on Connor McDavid. 🎥: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/15zrQX3D6Q
— Nation Network Media (@NationNMedia) April 23, 2024
Once upon a time, this type of play would get under the Oilers’ skin and result in retaliatory penalties. Yet, with a few hard-knock lessons handed down to them in the past few seasons, it seems like the team is as determined as ever to cut the extracurriculars and focus on getting revenge on the scoreboard.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the longest-tenured player on this Oilers team, had to keep his emotions in check with Kings defender Vladislav Gavrikov, who punched him in the face early in the game. The easy reaction would be to punch back, but the veteran Nugen-Hopkins took his licks and wound up scoring later in the game.
“It’s going to be physical, the emotions are high, and there’s probably going to be some stuff after the whistle,” Nugent-Hopkins told reporters this morning. “I think it’s important to stay poised out there and not retaliate and just play through the whistles and let the other stuff just kind of happen.”
Nuge on the doorstep pots one on the power play! 🚪 pic.twitter.com/6nUeQJZASl
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 23, 2024
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch also noticed his team’s discipline. Playoff hockey is full of emotion, and keeping those in check to focus on the larger goal is difficult. He was happy with how his team set the tone.
“It’s not necessarily easy to do,” Knoblauch said. “You get punched in the face and sometimes the referees feel it’s enough to call a penalty, sometimes it’s not… You just have to take them, and sometimes, you get rewarded with the power play.
“I liked our guy’s response and we want to be sticking up for each other, we want to have that pack mentality, but it’s really important that we’re not the ones taking that extra penalty.”
There is no doubt that the Kings will continue to poke and prod at the Oilers as the series continues. Keeping those retaliations in check will only get more difficult, but if the team can continue to succeed on the scoreboard, it could get easier.
Sports
Thatcher Demko injured, out for Game 2 between Canucks and Predators – Vancouver Is Awesome
Thatcher Demko returned from injury just in time for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs but now is injured again.
After the Vancouver Canucks’ victory in Game 1, Demko was not made available to the media as he was “receiving treatment.” This is not unusual, so was not heavily reported at the time. Monday’s practice was turned into an optional skate — just nine players participated — so Demko’s absence did not seem particularly significant.
But when Demko was also missing from Tuesday’s gameday skate, alarm bells started going off.
According to multiple reports — and now the Canucks’ head coach, Rick Tocchet —Demko will not play in Game 2 and is in fact questionable for the rest of their series against the Nashville Predators.
Demko made 22 saves on 24 shots, none bigger — and potentially injury-inducing — than his first-period save on Anthony Beauvillier where he went into the full splits.
While this is not necessarily where Demko got injured, it would be understandable if it was. Demko still stayed in the game and didn’t seem to be experiencing any difficulties at the time.
Demko is a major difference-maker for the Canucks and his injury casts a pall over the team’s emotional Game 1 victory.
Tocchet confirmed that Demko will not start in Game 2 but said Demko did skate on Monday on his own. He also said that Demko’s injury is unrelated to the knee injury he suffered during the season that caused him to miss five weeks. Instead, Tocchet suggested Demko was day-to-day, leaving open the possibility for his return in the first round.
TSN’s Farhan Lalji, however, has reported that Demko’s injury could indeed be to the same knee, even if it is not the same exact injury.
If Demko does indeed miss the rest of the series, the pressure will be on Casey DeSmith, who had a strong season when called upon intermittently as the team’s backup but struggled when thrust into the number-one role when Demko was injured. Behind DeSmith is rookie Arturs Silovs, who has come through with heroic performances in international competition for Latvia but hasn’t been able to repeat those performances at the NHL level.
DeSmith played one game against the Predators this season, making 26 saves on 28 shots in a 5-2 victory in December.
While DeSmith has limited experience in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, his one appearance was spectacular.
On May 3, 2022, DeSmith had to step in for the injured Tristan Jarry for the Pittsburgh Penguins, starting their first postseason game against the New York Rangers. DeSmith made 48 saves on 51 shots before leaving the game in the second overtime with an injury of his own, with Louis Domingue stepping in to make 17 more saves for the win.
The Canucks will look to allow significantly fewer than 51 shots on Tuesday night.
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