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Player grades from Oilers' franchise record 10th straight win – Edmonton Journal

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Oilers 2, Canadiens 1 (OT)

Another nail-biter, another win. That’s how it’s been going of late for the Edmonton Oilers, who have been struggling to score this last while but are still finding ways to collect 2 points in the process.

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For the second time since Christmas, the squad swept a 3-game road trip, though there were no San Jose/Anaheim-style blowouts this time around. In a tour of Original Six cities, the Oilers eked out a 2-1 regulation win in Chicago, a 3-2 overtime triumph in Detroit, and a 2-1 decision in Montreal, again in overtime. Each time they allowed the game’s first goal, but came from behind to pull out the 1-goal victory. In the process, the Oil extended their overall winning streak to 10 consecutive games, a first in the franchise’s storied history. They also pushed their season record to 23-15-1, .603.

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Evan Bouchard played the overtime hero this time, pounding home a powerplay slapshot that caromed off the post, then the backside of first star Sam Montembault and into the net behind him. Not pretty, but the desired result — a microcosm of the most recent stretch of games.

The Oilers were the better team on the night, with 85 shot attempts to 46 including a 41-24 bulge on the actual shot clock. By our own analysis at the Cult of Hockey, Edmonton held a 14-7 advantage in Grade A shots, including 5-4 in the most dangerous 5-alarm shots (running count).

Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 7. Not his finest hour, but more good than bad. Delivered Edmonton’s first Grade A shot of the night, and a doozy, when he hammered a bomb off the post early in the second period. A standout shift came early in the third when he coughed up the puck in his own end leading to a great Montreal chance, then on the continuation made a silky smooth lead pass to Foegele for a 2-on-1 opportunity that rang iron just 8 seconds later. Led the Oilers with 27:01 TOI including a whopping 7:16 on a powerplay unit that had its issues breaking through until Bouchard himself finally got the bounce that decided things 4-on-3. His 10th goal and 40th point of the season, becoming just the second Oilers rearguard to reach 40 points in &LT40 GP (assistant coach Paul Coffey did it 6 times).  Contributions to Grade A shots (GAS): Even Strength +3/-2; Special Teams +2/-0.

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#5 Cody Ceci, 6. Played a solid 20 minutes including a team-high 4:36 on the penalty kill unit. Oilers owned a tidy 14-6 edge in shots during his even-strength time. Drew a penalty late in the third which gave the Oil a golden chance to win in regulation. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-0.

#10 Derek Ryan, 4. Had a rare off-night on the penalty kill, where he lost all 3 of his faceoffs and was among those beaten on no fewer than 4 Grade A shots. Case in point, Montreal’s early PP when he lost the faceoff, was unable to clear the puck in a subsequent opportunity, and ultimately was beaten on the cross-seam pass for the goal after nearly a full minute of pressure. Had a similar extended PK shift in the third, though fortunately no damage done that time. Kept things simple at even strength. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-4.

#13 Mattias Janmark, 5. Had one tough shift where he was stripped of the puck twice by the same opponent, then tripped him. Made a key defensive play late in the third to anticipate and intercept a pass and clear the puck after some extended pressure. Mr. Low-Event. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +1/-0. 

#14 Mattias Ekholm, 5. Strong shot shares as usual, but was fighting it a bit. 0 hits or blocked shots while 6 of his own 7 attempts were blocked. Had a couple of giveaways. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +0/-2.

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#18 Zach Hyman, 6. His usual strong effort, but no finishing touch. Like many teammates, struggled to get shots through, even as he was credited with 4 shots on net out of 9 attempts. 0 contributions to Grade A shots, however, very rare indeed for this player. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.  

#21 Adam Erne, 5. Played 7 minutes on a makeshift fourth line and sawed them off. Played a robust game to my eye, though was credited with just 1 hit. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 7. A very steady night’s work with 3 shots, 3 blocks, 3 hits and excellent shot shares in 22 minutes of work. Smoked Michael Pezzetta with a heavy hit. Drew the penalty in overtime that led directly to the game-winner. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-0.

#27 Brett Kulak, 6. 12 quiet minutes, all at even-strength, during which time the Oilers managed just 3 shots on net while yielding but 1. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

#28 Connor Brown, 6. Delivered 12 solid minutes in a support role, firing 4 shots on net in the process. His best look was a shorthanded breakaway, winning a puck battle in the neutral zone, skating in alone but failing to beat the red-hot Montembault with a nice deke. Played 9:22 at even strength during which time Montreal mustered 0 (zero) shots, and added another 2:15 on the PK. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +1/-0.

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#29 Leon Draisaitl, 7. Was the only Oiler to solve Montembault in regulation, following up Foegele’s net drive and jamming the puck about 6 inches in the right direction, off Montembault’s pad and just over the goal line. Nervous moments followed as a coach’s challenge was issued, but this time the Oilers came out on the right end of the decision. His line dominated possession with a 21-8 edge in shot attempts, 12-5 in actual shots. Also delivered on the powerplay, including a secondary assist on the game winner. Drew a penalty. 5 shots on net, 12/25=48% on the faceoff dot. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST +3/-1.

#37 Warren Foegele, 7. Brought energy and competitiveness, chipping in a crucial assist on the 1-1. Sat in the sin bin for 2 nervous minutes midway in the third after a but of an unlucky penalty, but his mates bent but didn’t break. Broke away on a 2-on-1 and let fly with a bullet that beat Montembault cleanly but rang squarely off the post. 3 shots, 3 hits. GAS: ES +6/-0; ST +0/-0.

#57 James Hamblin, 5. Played 8 minutes with a variety of depth wingers — one of them a d-man in real life — and sawed them off, with the Habs mustering just 1 shot in that time. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

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#73 Vincent Desharnais, 6. Jumped into the slot for a good shot on the game’s opening shot, otherwise just stuck to his usual business of being a thwart to the other team. Played 11:38 at even strength (shots 5-1 Oilers) and another 1:44 on the PK, yielding nothing. Took a pound of flesh from Pezzetta in a post-whistle skirmish. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

#74 Stu Skinner, 7. With Edmonton dominating play, Skinner was not in position to “steal” this game, but with the way his counterpart was playing he sure could have lost it. On a night Montreal could be expected to score 2.4 goals (to Edmonton’s 4.7) they got just the 1. Beaten on the first shot he faced with no chance to stop it, he slammed the door thereafter, making a few key stops along the way. Best among them was a terrific blocker save of a labelled one-timer with Montreal pressing on a third-period powerplay. During the win streak he has played 7 of the 10 games, allowing just 10 goals on 204 shots for a gaudy .951 save percentage and 1.41 goals against average. On this night, 24 shots, 23 saves, .958 Sv%.

#76 Philip Kemp, 5. With Ryan McLeod out with an illness and Sam Gagner still not quite ready to return, the Oilers turned to their would-be extra defenceman to fill in at right wing for his NHL debut. Played just 2:03 on 3 first-period shifts and acquitted himself just fine. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

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#91 Evander Kane, 6. Bumped up to the second line in McLeod’s absence and got the job done in 16½ minutes. Did his best work in the offensive zone, with 8 shot attempts of which 4 were on net. Best of those was a wicked mid-air tip that forced one of Montembault’s finest stops. Earned an assist on Draisaitl’s goal, winning a battle in the corner to work the puck to Foegele. Had some trouble breaking out pucks from his own end. 0 hits as he continues to deal with a core body issue that limits his rambunctious style. GAS: ES +5/-0; ST +0/-0.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. Had a tough first period, including a first-minute penalty that resulted in the skate of shame 57 seconds later. Came on strong from then on, ultimately leading both teams with 8 shots and 12 attempts. Unable to solve Montembault but not for lack of trying. Played a whopping 25:42 including over 10 minutes on special teams. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +1/-2.

Connor McDavid, 7. Marked his 27th birthday by becoming the first Edmonton Oiler to captain his team to a 10-game winning streak. Waited until the game’s final play to extend his own point streak to (wait for it) 10 games when he teed up Bouchard’s one-timer. That ties him with the magnificent Mario Lemieux for the third most such streaks of 10 or more games with 14, just 1 behind Habs legend Guy Lafleur. It will, however, take him a while longer to overtake the incomparable Wayne Gretzky who had a remarkable 31! On this night the Canadiens checked #97 relentlessly as he battled to break through in 26 hard-working minutes. Held to just 1 shot on net, he was nonetheless involved in 6 Grade A shots. Took a ridiculous even-up penalty for goalie interference within 2 minutes of the Habs losing a challenge for the same infraction. Later drew a penalty the other way when hauled down behind the play, and was relentlessly booed by the Bell Centre faithful any time he touched the puck the rest of the way — which, it turned out, was quite frequently. Had the last laugh with the apple on the game winner. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +4/-0.

At the Cult of Hockey

STAPLES: Campbell for Merzlikins? Who says no?

LEAVINS: Player grades vs Detroit

McCURDY: Edmonton Oilers top two units on a major heater

STAPLES: Corey Perry “possible” for Oilers says insider

McCURDY: Did Stu Skinner turn Oilers’ season around, or vice versa?

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

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