Player grades: With blood in the water, Edmonton Oilers finally cage Sharks in overtime

Edmonton Oilers Nick Bjugstad (72)celebrates his first period goal against the San Jose Sharks with teammates on Monday, March 20, 2023 in Edmonton. Greg Southam-Postmedia Photo by Greg Southam /Greg Southam

Sharks 4, Oilers 5 (OT)

For much of Monday night’s chaotic affair at Rogers Place, it appeared the Edmonton Oilers were destined to lose their third home game of the season to a bottom-three club. But when the dust settled on a wild game that featured 4 goals overturned by video review (3 against the SJS, 1 against EDM), several goal posts, some inexplicable missed calls and a number of circus saves by San Jose’s James Reimer, the Oilers emerged with a 5-4 win in overtime.

Unlikely scoring heroes emerged for the Oilers in the persons of Mattias Ekholm who scored a pair of game-tying goals and Darnell Nurse, who untied it in the dying seconds of the fourth frame. They along with 2-goal man Erik Karlsson of San Jose scored the game’s final 5 goals. Hard to imagine 3 defenders chosen as the game stars in a 9-goal, 83-shot game, but such was the unpredictable nature of this wild affair.

Edmonton dominated the flow of play, with shot attempts of 84-45, shots 51-32, high danger chances of 27-15 and expected goals of 5.7 to 2.7. The tilt of the ice was reflected in our own counts of Grade A shots (31-14 Edmonton) and the subset of 5-alarm chances (17-8). Fair to conclude that the better team won, even as it took 64 minutes and 45 seconds to prove it.

Far too much happening far too fast in this game for precision coverage (which can also be said about the Oilers defence). Grade comments will focus on our tally of contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS), which for the uninitiated usually show best on wingers — who have the most offensive opportunity with the least defensive responsibility — and worst of defencemen, with centres somewhere in the middle. Here is our running count from this game.

No grade but a special shout out to Oilers video coach Jeremy Coupal, who went 3-for-3 on challenging apparent Sharks goals that were ultimately overturned by razor thin technicalities.

Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 7. Led Oilers’ d-men with 26:01 in ice time and showed well, even as he had a couple of wobbly moments which Ekholm cleaned up. Earned an assist on the 3-3 goal. Rang the post late in OT and then was robbed by Reimer on the rebound. GAS: +5/-0, outstanding for a d-man.

#5 Cody Ceci, 5. Made a bad mistake on San Jose’s third goal when he drifted to the left boards to help Nurse, allowing the eventual goal scorer (Karlsson) to race up the middle of the ice unmolested. Made a goal-saving play in the crease to hold the deficit to 4-3 in the third, raising his grade by a full point. GAS: +1/-3.

#10 Derek Ryan, 4. Played just 9:17 and had little impact on the game. Positive stats of 1 shot, 1 hit, 1 takeaway, and 2/3=67% on the dot. GAS: +0/-1.

#14 Mattias Ekholm, 8. Scored a pair of massive goals that each tied the score, 3-3 midway in the second, then 4-4 late in the third. Both times unexpectedly busted into the slot, delivering a precision backhand under Reimer’s glove in the first instance, then an absolute rocket of a slapshot to the top corner in the second. Also positively involved in the sequence leading to Yamamoto’s goal. Played 22:28 including a team-high 2:07 on the (perfec) penalty kill. 5 shots, 2 hits, 2 giveaways, 2 blocks. GAS: +4/-4, which factored in on 3 GF, 1 GA. Through 10 games in Edmonton, Ekholm has posted outstanding boxcars of 3-6-9, +15 (!) with the Oilers winning 8 of those games.

#18 Zach Hyman, 5. His usual solid grinding in the trenches, leading to some good chances but no goals. Appeared to score on a fortuitous deflection off his body inside the blue paint, but it was overturned for goaltender interference by Hyman himself. Docked 1 grade for a weak backcheck on the third Sharks goal. GAS: +4/-1.

#19 Devin Shore, 4. Played a game-low 5:59 with little to show for it. A couple of iffy decisions. GAS: +1/-0.

#21 Klim Kostin, 4. He too played little, just 7:57. 3 hits but 2 giveaways. GAS: +1/-0.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 7. Some chaos on his watch, but plenty of good moments as well, most notably the game-winning goal scored on a breakaway with just 15 seconds remaining in OT. Nice sprint from a big defenceman with 29 shifts and nearly 25 minutes on his game log. GAS: +5/-4.

#26 Mattias Janmark, 5. Earned an assist on Bjugstad’s 1-1 goal, but among those burned on San Jose’s fourth. Played just 8:47, though his 1:28 on the PK led all forwards. GAS: +3/-1.

#27 Brett Kulak, 4. Played in an all-lefty D pair with Broberg and had some chaotic moments behind the blueline, notably on the 2-2 when he stepped up to try to do his young partner’s’s job only to leave his own area uncovered. Bam! Breakaway. Goal. GAS: +0/-2.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 8. All over the ice, with the Oilers dominating possession (shot attempts 28-9 at 5v5). Set up both of Ekholm’s goals. Did everything but score himself, firing 7 shots on goal and an eighth that rang iron. Was twice robbed by Reimer on a late powerplay, firing a pair of one-timers from his favourite spot that were foiled by a flailing glove save that just deflected the puck over the crossbar, and then seconds later by a diving stop by Reimer that defied belief. Great stretch pass to send McDavid in alone. Dominated the faceoff dot with 20/29=69%. GAS: +14/-1, and no, that is not a typo.

#36 Jack Campbell, 4. Allowed 4+ goals for his sixth straight start, but unlike the others, managed to pull out the win. It would have been 7 goals but he was saved thrice by video review. All 3 were ugly goals — down too early on a shot over his shoulder, a going-wide shot that bounced off the inside of his blocker arm and into the net, and an ineffectual dive on a 2-on-1 where the shot slid under him and into the middle of the net. At least 1 iffy goal that did count, a fat rebound punted into the slot for the 1-0. His defence was little help on the 2 breakaways, but Campbell thwarted neither. Finally settled down late in the game and contributed some nice stops, including a dandy off Tomas Hertl in OT. 32 shots, 28 saves, .875 save percentage.

#37 Warren Foegele, 6. A mostly solid game, highlighted by a great pass to Bjugstad for the 1-1. Played 13:27, the most on the bottom 6, including over a minute on each special team. GAS: +4/-1.

#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 8. His best game in quite some time, he was buzzing around all night. Scored the 2-1 by converting a chance from the slot, seconds after creating the chaos with a dangerous tip on net. Set up the game winner with a heads-up stretch pass to Nurse in OT. Respectively his 10th goal and 10th assist of the season, in the process becoming the 10th Oilers forward with double-digit goals. Played 20:05, with 3 shots, 2 hits, and boxcars of 1-1-2, +3. GAS: +9/-0.

#72 Nick Bjugstad, 6. Another effective game at 3C, playing 12:34 in all situations including a shift in overtime. Scored the 1-1 by going to the net and converting Foegele’s sharp pass. Unable to cut out a key pass on the 4-3. Led the Oilers with 4 hits. GAS: +4/-1.

#86 Philip Broberg, 5. Back in the line-up for a second straight game, on a 6-man D crew this game. Played 13:27, delivering a relatively conservative game, even as he was involved in a goal each way. Made a strong play in the neutral zone and an effective ring-around pass to Janmark to kick-start the 1-1. But he (and Kulak, Kane and Hyman) got beaten for a breakaway on the 2-2. The only Oiler to not generate a shot, nor even an attempt for that matter. GAS: +1/-2.

#91 Evander Kane, 2. Surely his poorest game as an Oiler. Kane was a day late and a dollar short all night. Directly involved in 3 Sharks goal with poor coverage or none at all in the case of a particularly lame backcheck on the first Karlsson goal. Led the squad with 3 giveaways. Took the only 2 Oilers penalties of the game and got away with a third. He did draw a penalty and produce a dangerous thrust on net in the third, barely enough to avoid the dreaded “1” grade. Natural Stat Trick had him on the ice for 2 scoring chances for, 11 against, this on a night the Oilers went 48-18 in that count with Kane on the bench. Our own counts are similarly damning — GAS: +1/-6, especially poor for a winger.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 8. Outstanding all-around game, firing 7 shots on net, passing effectively, and working his tail off. Both of his assists came from won battles, the first on the edge of the San Jose crease, the second deep in the defensive zone late in overtime. Was one of several Oilers to ding the iron. Was also tackled by Reimer, a “good penalty” to save a goal had the refs even realized it was a penalty at all. 2 takeaways and a solid 6/9=67% on the dot. GAS: +9/-1.

#97 Connor McDavid, 8. His magic hands deserted him from time to time, but he nonetheless created scoring opportunities all night long. Couldn’t score himself, but earned primary assists on Yamamoto’s goal and Ekholm’s second. 11 shot attempts off his own stick, 6 on net and another on a third period breakaway that found the post. 9/13=69% on the dot. Played a monstrous 28:06 and was still flying at the end of it. GAS: +13/-1, and that’s not a typo either.