Player grades: Edmonton Oilers Florida Panthers

The Edmonton Oilers came out sleepy and sloppy and paid the iron price. They repeatedly forgot they were supposed to cover Florida attackers in the defensive slot early on, thus allowing three unmolested Panther shooters to thump in goals in the first.

Edmonton battled back but Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky outplayed Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard for the remainder of the game, with Florida eventually winning 5-1.

Connor McDavid, 6. A solid game on the attack without results, a tough game on defence where his one major mistake cost the Oilers. He set up RNH for two dangerous shots early on. But neither he nor RNH figured out who was supposed to be the main man in the defensive slot and allowed Brandon Montour to thump in a goal unmolested. The blame was mostly on RNH, but McD shared in it. He came alive in the second, twisting and charging to fire two wicked shots on Sergei Bobrovsky in one quick span. A moment later he was part of the gorgeous 5-man passing play on Edmonton’s first goal. He almost set up Hyman for a goal but Alex Barkov made a goal-line stop, demonstrating to all how a brilliant defensive centre gets it done. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +6/-1; Special Teams +1/-0.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 3. He got the first 5-alarm shot of the game, dropping a pass to McDavid, then charging the net and almost driving in McD’s rebound. A moment later he broke in for another Grade but couldn’t score. He was the primary culprit on the second Florida goal, failing to cover Brandon Mountour heading into the slot. He made a gorgeous pass to Hyman on the first and only Oiler goal. He missed a pass to McD on two-man breakaway early in the third, then cruised a bit on the backcheck on Florida’s fifth goal, which ending up allowing the scoring snipe. GAS: ES +3/-2; ST +0/-0.

Leon Draisaitl, 2. The big man was a statue in his own zone in the first and his team paid for it. Drai was the major culprit on two goals against. He was a few steps to slow to move to cover his man Carter Verhaege in the defensive slot and Florida got its first goal. He gave up the puck, then was caught flat-footed, not covering anyone in front of the net on the third Florida goal. He set up Cody Ceci for a great chance in the second. GAS: ES +1/-3; ST +0/-0.

Warren Foegele, 5. Some good, some bad. Made a sharp stop at the blueline, then fed Nurse for Edmonton’s first Grade A shot of the game. He failed to cover for Draisaitl on the first goal when Drai blew his own coverage. He got a rebound shot off an Evan Bouchard wrister but failed to drain it late in the second. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-0.

Mattias Janmark, 3. Likely his worst game of the year, with some uncharacteristic mistakes on defence. He allowed the outside shot on the third Florida goal. He got beat on the rush on the fourth Florida goal. On the plus side, he set up Gagner on the rush leading to his penalty shot. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST +0/-1.

Ryan McLeod, 4. He’s not having much impact just now. He failed to clear the puck on the PK in the first, but no harm was done. His one major plus was he won 14 out of 16 faceoffs. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

Evander Kane, 6. He had an impact here, but not enough of one. He crashed Florid’s Nick Cousins into the boards for the game’s first nasty hit. He won a faceoff, leading to Kulak’s great chance early in the second. He and Ekholm led the team with five hits each. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.

Connor Brown, 5. Good hustle, improving speed, no major positive results. He blocked a shot on the PK in the first. He put the puck on net on Kulak’s 5-alarmer. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.

Sam Gagner, 6. Hustled but no major success until early in the third. He got a breakaway but was fouled, earning a penalty shot. He failed to drain it. Next he almost slammed in Nurse’s rebound. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +0/-0.

Derek Ryan, 6. He was at least willing to pay the price. Some good work with RNH on a first period Florida power play. He took a few hard and painful-looking hits in the second. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

James Hamblin, 6. He sent in Ekholm on a breakaway with a gorgeous stretch pass. Nothing bad from him this game, which is more than we can say of most Oilers.

Cody Ceci, 5. Solid enough game, but not without a major blemish. He allowed the pass into the slot on the second Florida goal. He charged up into the play for a couple dangeroius opportunities in the second, one ow which he got on net. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-0.

Evan Bouchard, 5. One bad moment but a number of good ones. He wandered far from the net front and was part of the carnage on the third Florida goal. He kicked off the gorgeous five-man rush and passing play that led to Hyman scoring. He did a fine job limiting damage on a 2-on-1 a moment later. GAS: ES +1/-4; ST +0/-0.

Mattias Ekholm, 7. Solid enough game, moving the puck well. He’s been coming on strong. He was out of position on the third Florida goal, though Draisaitl blocking his path to the shooter didn’t help. He won a breakaway but failed to drain his shot in the second. His quick pass kicked off a dangerous rush with Foegele almost scoring late in the second. GAS: ES +5/-3; ST +0/-0.

Brett Kulak, 7. This loss wasn’t on him, which few Oilers players can say. He kept a clean sheet at even strength, with not one major mistake on a Grade A shot against. He moved in to zing a dangerous shot on net early in the second but failed to drain it. He won a puck battle to kick off Ekholm’s breakaway sequence. He took an unfortunate double-minor for high-sticking late in the second. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +0/-0.

Calvin Pickard, 3. A goalie will on average stop three out of four Grade A shots. Pickard stopped just six out of eleven, though many of them were wicked chances. He had little help from his friends, but the big save eluded him. He had little chance on the first Florida goal, a cross-crease pass and one-timer finish. He did well later in the first to thwart Tkachuk’s break-in chance. The second was also thumped in from the slot, then he was left alone on the third, first to stop a deflection, then zero help on the rebound. A save would have been nice on the fourth Florida goal, a breakaway, but Pickard wasn’t up to Bobrovsky’s level this game. The fifth goal, too, was saveable.