Player grades: Oilers stay alive, overwhelm Panthers 8-1

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Panthers 1, Edmonton 8

It took a while, but Edmonton Oilers entered the win column in the Stanley Cup Finals in convincing fashion, laying an 8-1 beatdown on the Florida Panthers to stave off elimination and avoid a series sweep.

The feisty affair was a lot closer than the score indicates, with the Oilers the recipients of plenty of puck luck along the way. But they were unquestionably the better team, especially in a dominant second period that saw them outshoot the Panthers 17-4 including 9 Grade A shots to 0, in the process extending a 3-1 lead to 6-1.

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Plenty of highlights across the board, not least from captain Connor McDavid who posted a goal and 3 more assists to break a 36-year-old Stanley Cup record held by none other than Wayne Gretzky. Make no mistake, though, this was a complete team effort, from netminder Stu Skinner through all 3 defence pairs and all 4 forward lines. Once again, the penalty kill was a huge contributor, killing off all 4 Edmonton penalties and getting a massive shorthanded goal from the indomitable duo of Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown that opened both the scoring and the floodgates.

In a game where shot shares likely don’t mean a whole lot due to extreme score effects, Edmonton nonetheless outshot Florida 35-33, matching their Game 3 shots total which was the highest against the Panthers all playoffs. By our video analysis at the Cult of Hockey, Edmonton had 21 Grade A shots to 13 by Florida, including a 12-7 advantage in the subset we call 5-alarm chances (running count). Not exactly a tight-checking game, in which the Oilers did plenty of damage with stretch passes and scored a remarkable 7 goals off the rush.

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Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 7. Relatively quiet night, especially given all the scoring that was happening. He picked up a secondary assist with a good stretch pass on McDavid’s goal, the only goal scored either way during his 14 minutes of 5v5 play. Played a further 6 minutes on the powerplay but a relatively low 20:24 overall on a night ice time was extremely balanced throughout the line-up. Surprisingly was one of just two Oilers to not have a shot on goal. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +1/-1; ST 0.

#5 Cody Ceci, 6. His usual workmanlike effort. Made a key defensive stop on his first shift to break up a 2-on-1 during a delayed penalty. Lost a battle on the lone Florida goal and had a couple other defensive issues. Still managed a tidy +3 on the night, so the puck spent a fair bit of his time heading north. Won an o-zone battle in the build-up to Holloway’s second goal. Led all PKers with 5:16 TOI, nearly 2/3 of the 8:00 Oilers were down a man. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST +0/-2.

#10 Derek Ryan, 6. The only Oiler in single-digit minutes at 9:25, contributed a solid defensive effort. Florida mustered just 2 shots during his 7½ minutes at evens. Chipped in 1:48 on the PK. 3 blocked shots to lead the forwards. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-1.

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#13 Mattias Janmark, 9. Played a wonderful game with a goal, an assist and +3. The goal, a shorty that opened the scoring against the flow of play and sent Rogers Place into a frenzy, was scored by going to the front of the net, stopping up, finding the puck and sending it upstairs. The assist, a terrific play to receive a stretch pass, beat Niko Mikkola to enter the zone, then beat him again with a bullet centring pass that Henrique tipped home. Made an early pass in the sequence leading to Holloway’s first goal, though no assist that time. Took a penalty, later drew one. A powerhouse duo with Brown on the PK, particularly effective up-ice with their capacity to hold the puck, to leave it in good spots, and to disrupt the rush in the neutral zone. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST +1/-2.

#14 Mattias Ekholm, 6. Led Oilers skaters with a modest 21:08 of ice time. His stretch pass to his fellow Mattias, Janmark, sprang the rush on Henrique’s game winner. 3 shots, 3 blocks, 2 hits. Had a few issues on the PK, though Skinner made the saves. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST +1/-4.

#18 Zach Hyman, 7. Usually the beneficiary of McDavid passes, on this night he reaped his rewards by passing the puck the other way, earning a pair of second period assists in the process. Just 1 shot on net. Originally credited for Edmonton’s powerplay tally which was later corrected to RNH. GAS: +3/-1; ST +2/-0.

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#19 Adam Henrique, 7. Played just 10:49 but made the most of it, scoring the 2-0 goal not 8 minutes in that stood up as the game-winner. Otherwise did his best work on the defensive side of the puck with 5 hits, 2 blocks, and 2 takeaways. Held his own on the dot at 8/15=53%. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST 0.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 8. Played a very proactive game, leading the Oilers with 11 shot attempts and 6 shots on goal at one end, and with 5 shot blocks at the other. Scored the 5-1 goal on a terrific shot from the slot. Brought a dose of the nasty, landing a tough early check on a guy whose dished out of few of those himself, Sam Bennett. Spent a couple of nervous moments while the refs reviewed for a possible major, before (correctly in my view) deeming it a tripping minor. Not only did Oilers kill it off, they scored while Nurse was in the box. Took a later penalty for a nasty crosscheck in the slot.  Shot shares were a bit sketchy, but goal shares pristine at +3/-0. GAS: ES +2/-3; ST +1/-0.

#27 Brett Kulak, 6. Unable to prevent the deflection that cut Edmonton’s 2-0 lead in half, he helped get it back minutes later when he delivered a fine stretch pass of his own that sprang Draisaitl and Holloway on the rush that produced the 3-1 goal. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST +0/-1.

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#28 Connor Brown, 9. Made an outstanding play on the 1-0, winning a puck battle with Sasha Barkov deep in his own territory, chipping it past Carter Verhaeghe at the blueline and racing away 2-on-1 with Janmark. Brown held the puck right to the icing line, outwaited Brandon Montour who ultimately wiped out Bobrovsky, then slid a pass into the crease for Janmark to pop home. Played a strong defensive game and was all over the puck in all three zones. Played 3:16 on the PK to lead the forwards, during which time Edmonton outshot Florida 3-1 and outscored them 1-0. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +2/-0.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 7. With a pair of assists, recorded his first multi-point game since Game 6 vs. Vancouver. That’s a span of 11 games, after logging no fewer than 9 multi-point games in his first 11. Made a terrific pass to Holloway on the 3-1. His powerful one-timer on the 5-on-3 powerplay caught pieces of Bobrovsky and crossbar before RNH jammed it home. 3 shots, 2 hits, 1 takeaway, 0 giveaways and a solid 8/15=53% on the dot. GAS: ES +3/-2; ST +5/-0. 

#37 Warren Foegele, 7. Strange progression of on-ice stats: shot attempts 11-23; shots on goal 9-7; goals 3-0. Played a role in the 4-1 by getting hammered head first into the boards from behind by Aaron Ekblad, somehow legal on a night that plenty was called. No matter, with Ekblad out of position the Oilers capitalized on the counter attack. Made a diving clear on the PK. 4 shots, 2 hits. GAS: ES +4/-1; ST +1/-1.

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#55 Dylan Holloway, 8. Returned to the Draisaitl line after a brief demotion and delivered 13 high-energy minutes not to mention 2 goals. Scored the critical 3-1 late in the first, hopping into the rush to take Draisaitl’s pass, deke Bobrovsky, and get the puck over the netminder’s pad but below his outstretch glove. Added some icing on the cake down the stretch when he scored his second of the game, starting the play with a crisp outlet on the tape and finishing it by driving the net front and tap home McDavid’s pass. Scored a bonus assist on McLeod’s 8-1 tally a couple minutes later. 2 shots, 2 blocks, 3 hits and oh yeah, boxcars of 2-1-3, +3. GAS: +4/-0; ST 0.

#71 Ryan McLeod, 6. Delivered 15 solid minutes on a makeshift fourth line between Ryan and Perry. Scored a late “insurance” marker, landed a couple of hits, and dominated the dot with 8/10=80%. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +2/-0.

#74 Stu Skinner, 8. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Panthers might be expected to score 3.8 goals on the shots they mustered. In reality they scored just 1. Skinner played a big part of that, making a number of stellar saves. None was bigger than his sliding robbery of Verhaeghe’s one-timer off a 2-on-1 rush not a minute after Florida had cut the lead to 2-1. A huge moment: a goal there ties the game, silences the crowd and cancles out all of Edmonton’s early momentum. Instead, a gargantuan save, a huge roar from the fans, and momentum was not only sustained but enhanced. Had little to do in the second period but faced a barrage in the third, stopping everything. Got some help from his posts a time or three. 33 shots, 32 saves, .970 save percentage.

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#86 Philip Broberg, 7. The youthful defender has been a revelation since being inserted into the line-up 7 games ago, and is becoming a fixture on the back end. His stretch pass initiated the sequence that ended with his partner Nurse’s goal, though no assist on the play. All over the place with his strong and increasingly confident skating. He was burned by a high puck in the neutral zone but bailed out by Skinner’s great stop of Verhaeghe. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0.

#90 Corey Perry, 6. Made a nice play at the blueline, barely onside, that enabled Holloway’s second goal. Perhaps a more important play in context was that time he collected a dangerous rebound in his own end, took it to safe ice and pinned against the boards vs. a pair of Floridians, giving his mates a couple of valuable seconds to reorganize after a chaotic sequence. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST _1/-0.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. Somehow managed to post a -1 in an 8-1 win. As is often the case, did his best work on special teams. Broke a series long drought for Edmonton’s powerplay when he popped home Draisaitl’s rebound from close range on a third period 5-on-3 (Bennett and Tkachuk both in the box), and also made some important clearances on the penalty kill. Led all forwards in ice time with, get this, 17:56. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST _2/-1.

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Connor McDavid, 9. A four-point night, including 3 more assists to set a new NHL record with 32 assists in a playoff year. No mean feat to beat one of Wayne Gretzky’s assists marks, just saying. Impressive to see how the Oilers franchise dominates this particular list. Scored a goal on a good slot shot, rang the post with another. 2 giveaways, but 4 takeaways in a very determined effort. Involved in a team-high 9 Grade A shots by the Oilers. In very good position defensively and snapped up a couple of loose rebounds thanks to that. GAS: ES +4/-0; ST +5/-0.

Edmonton Oilers, 10. An excellent team effort on a night the squad needed all hands on deck. In a game that could have ended badly indeed, the Oilers came through with a full team effort and a massive win in front of a delighted crowd at Rogers Place. Play La Bamba, baby!

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Player grades:

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