Skinner, Holloway, Benson star as Oilers nudge Jets

Oilers 3, Jets 2 (SO)

Strong game too from the coaching staff who rotated a group of six defencemen, none of whom is a lock for an NHL job come the 12th. All played from 24-28 shifts in the narrow range of 18 to 21 minutes; each of the six led the club in at least one statistical category on the event summary, not something that happens often. Then there was the time Jay Woodcroft went against the book and used 2 d-men on a 5-on-3 powerplay; within 20 seconds one of them had scored on an assist by the other (along with middleman Dylan Holloway who had an excellent game). The staff also made a successful video challenge, and some interesting in-game adjustments with forward combinations that paid off with a very strong third period.

Player notes

No player grades for preseason, even as we will provide commentary for each of the 19 Oilers who saw action, sorted by (starting) lines and pairings. Lots of comments tonight as this was a high-event, highly-entertaining game with plenty at stake for many of the hopefuls.

Forwards

Dylan Holloway had his skating legs going from the start, pouring in on the forecheck. Had a clearcut breakaway on the PK but rang his shot off the post. Slammed a one-timer on the first 5-on-3 that found Hellebuyck’s waiting breadbasket. Got a good bounce off the linesman, fought off a check and fired a great shot that Hellebuyck gloved, drawing the second 5-on-3 in the process. Made a great cross-seam pass to Demers for the 2-2. Rang iron a second time with a wicked wrister. Unable to execute a high-speed deke in a well-earned shootout opportunity. Led all Oilers with 21:40 ice time, playing close to 4 minutes on each special team, and got some time at pivot in the third.

Jesse Puljujarvi was in octopus mode in Jets territory, disrupting the breakout a couple of times in the early going. He also made a couple of strong stops inside his own line, making a good outlet pass after the first, then leading the rush and firing a slapshot and a close-in rebound on the second, Edmonton’s first 2 shots of the game after 11 minutes of play.  Failed to cash a close-in rebound of Samorukov’s point shot. Nice rush through traffic led to a tricky screened shot. Provided a PP screen but got drilled on the knee by Broberg’s heavy shot and limped to the bench. Made a splendid play to maintain possession on the powerplay, then fed Ryan at the doorstep for the tip-in. Seconds later hammered a drive from the slot that Hellebuyck somehow got his blocker on. Made a splendid play in overtime when he rode Brad Lambert off the puck hard, crunching the young Jet into the boards before turning the puck north for a strong Edmonton possession. 5 shots on net to lead the Oilers.

Mattias Janmark did some strong work along the walls to win possession and advance the puck. Made a fine pass through a narrow lane to Ryan in tight to the net that very nearly clicked. Another good feed to Kesselring at the point with room to move into the slot for a good shot. Started a 3-way passing play with a good feed to Shore. Made a beautiful steal at the end of a Winnipeg powerplay, breaking away 2-on-1 with Demers emerging from the box.

Devin Shore was in solid position to intercept a centring pass, make a move and start the play the other way very late in the first, ultimately leading to an Oilers powerplay. Tried a rush through the neutral zone but lacked the speed to separate, skating into 2 traps and coughing up the puck on the second. Made 2 fine plays on the same PK shift, the first to tip Perfetti’s slot shot, the second to corral a loose puck in the corner and safely clear it down to enable a much-needed change. Made a lovely one-touch pass to McKegg for a dangerous slot shot. Switched off to wing in the third period and remained effective. Netted the only goal in the shootout with the ol’ Jussi Jokinen Special.

Tyler Benson had a very strong game and was rewarded with 18:46 ice time, second among forwards. He opened the scoring late in the first when he jumped on a clearing pass just inside the Jets blueline, skated in and wired a shot past Connor Hellebuyck high glove: Edmonton’s first road goal of the preseason after a mere 135 minutes of play. Aggressive on the forecheck throughout, he landed a heavy hit that created a loose puck in Jets territory. Crunched Mason Appleton in the exact same spot minutes later, taking a boarding penalty but drawing one in return as big Adam Lowry came in to retaliate. Did a great job early in the third to win a race to the boards and establish position on the puck to clear the zone, paying a physical price in the process. That small play led to an Oilers powerplay on the counter attack. Made a great cross-ice feed that Bourgault nearly chipped home from the edge of the crease. Then came an even better aerial pass that sprang Bourgault in alone. To these eyes Benson was comfortably the best of the minimum-salary group of forwards (also Malone, McKegg, potentially Virtanen), of whom at least one will earn a spot on the eventual roster.

Jake Virtanen turned the puck over in the neutral zone on his first touch. Had a much better moment later in the first with a strong forecheck on Ville Heinola that forced a weak clearing pass from the young Jet that Benson picked off, then scored. Officially unassisted, but there would have been no goal without that forecheck. But not much thereafter, just 1 weak shot from outside, and 0 hits for the third straight game.

Luke Esposito made a fine read, interception and clear on the penalty kill. Hammered Logan Stanley with a good hit. Kept his feet moving and drew a penalty because of it. Took a dubious minor for interference on a net drive, was challenged by big Blake Wheeler in an extended scrum, eventually taking a solid punch to the head because the one linesman who bothered to engage held back Esposito and allowed Wheeler a free shot. To make matters worse, the Jets scored the 2-1 on the subsequent powerplay — twice!

Xavier Bourgault made some nice subtle plays in tight quarters along the walls. Made a patient set of moves through the high slot before firing a good low shot that tested Hellebuyck. Made a good setal on the forecheck, and instantly found Hamblin cruising in the slot with a quick pass. But twice wasted powerplay rushes with a poor handle at the blueline. Got on the end of Benson’s lob pass but couldn’t solve Hellebuyck.

Defencemen

Philip Broberg was beaten by speedy Jets rookie Brad Lambert early but got a tiny piece of the puck on the way through to slightly disrupt the rush. Did a better job containing the same player on a similar 1-on-1 shortly thereafter; the puck again slipped through, but the man was safely steered to the side. He was beaten on the 5-on-3, stepping up to the shooter in the high slot but not containing the shot, leaving two Jets free at the edge of the blue paint to eventually bang it home. Looked good on the powerplay point, and earned an assist on Demers’ goal with a perfectly-timed pass to Holloway. Made a sweet one-look stretch pass to Hamblin. After an iffy start he appeared more comfortable as the game went on.

Markus Niemelainen made a big shot block of a PP one-timer with Skinner scrambling behind him. Took a high-sticking minor early in an Oilers penalty kill that left the Oilers two men short, leading to the 1-1 goal. Crushed Kevin Stenlund with a heavy hit, then easily shrugged off Jansen Harkins’ attempt at the return hit moments later.  Twice blocked a shot and cleared the zone in a late second-period penalty kill, but coughed up the puck in between times.  Beaten by Perfetti’s fine pass to Toninato, but Skinner had the answer. Made a nice pinch and keep-in leading to Shore’s screen shot, though he later betrayed a lack of offensive instincts when he dumped the puck in during 3-on-3 overtime. Had 15 different entries on the Event Summary, 11 of them without the puck (5 hits, 5 blocked shots, 1 penalty) along with 1 shot and 3 giveaways. But make it 4 straight games in just 7 days that he landed 5+ hits, a number attained only by 2 teammates so far, once each. Niemo is making his case the best way he knows how, and he’s in with a chance.

Dmitri Samorukov fired a good outside shot through a screen that led to a dangerous rebound. Quiet but mostly solid, leading all Oilers with 4:20 on the penalty kill.

Goalies

Stuart Skinner became the first Oilers goalie to play a full game (and then some). He held his team in through a shaky opening 10 minutes that saw the Jets forge a 9-0 edge in shots. He stoned Blake Wheeler from the slot in the early going. Fought off Adam Lowry’s powerplay chance from the edge of the crease. Made a terrific stop off Heinola’s one-timer off a cross-ice feed on the 5-on-3, but was beaten on a 3-shot barrage seconds later. Some iffy puckhandling with 2 turnovers in the first. Fought off Harkins’ high drive through a screen with a good blocker stop. Robbed Perfetti’s one-timer early in the third. Came across quickly but couldn’t quite seal all the holes and Perfetti expertly found one from close range. But absolutely slammed the door thereafter with a series of stellar stops allowing his mates to claw back into the game. Robbed Toninato on a doorstep deflection. Made a superb stop off Stenlund on a well-executed 3-on-2 with 2 minutes left, and somehow held the rebound. Made 5 saves in overtime, most of them eyeball-to-eyeball as Winnipeg turned on the Jets and created several point-blank opporunities. The exclamation point was a shootout stuff of Perfetti at the nearside post with an outstretched pad after a nifty deke by the youngster. 35 shots, 33 saves, .943 save percentage, followed by perfection in the shootout.