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Josh Archibald, 4. Quiet game, too quiet for a forward.
Ethan Bear, 7. His game is back in sync. He got beat by Scheifele on a rush to the Edmonton net in the second. He and Nurse failed to shut down a nasty one-handed tip off the rush by Ehlers in the third. But overall played well in tough situations.
Darnell Nurse, 7.Has played like a No. 1 d-man these last three games, a real No. 1 d-man. Not a perfect game, but a super solid one. He turned over a puck in the second leading to an iffy moment in his own zone, but quickly recovered by deflecting a pass out of danger, then throwing. a forearm shiver to bash a Jet attacker into the boards. Made a solid block on a pass on a Jets power play in the second. The power play finally looked good when he took over from Barrie.
Adam Larsson, 7. He had a strong, hard and effective stick on defence all game. Made a strong play to cut out an Ehlers centering pass late in the first. Not one major mistake on a Grade A chance against at even strength all game, even as the team was often under heavy pressure when he was out there.
Slater Koekkoek. 6. He’s become a Steady Eddie of the Oil’s blueline. He made a fantastic sliding blocked shot on Perreault in the slot in the second.
Kris Russell. 6. Solid, smart defensive play the whole game. Had a bad luck deflection in the slot fly into his own net. That’s gotta hurt.
Tyson Barrie. 4. He made four major mistakes on Grade A chances against at even strength, so not his sharpest game back there. On the power play in the first he hit Draisaitl in the skates on a pass, part of the disconnect we’re seeing on the power play. He failed to cover his man, Mason Appleton, on a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous shot in the second.
Mikko Koskinen, 6. He was a bit too slow getting across the net on Winnipeg’s first goal. He came up with a huge save off Josh Morrissey later in the first after Ennis and Kassian’s rancid line change. He wasn’t tested much in the second, but came up with a whale of a save off Mason Appleton. I can’t fault him on either third period goal. Played well enough for Oilers to win.
