There were ugly defensive break downs galore by the Edmonton Oilers prospects in their 5-4 loss on Sunday to the Calgary Flames but also a number of Oil players who had good-to-great games.
Here were Edmonton’s five stars, the five players with the best performances.
5. Nathaniel Day. Yes, he let in five goals in the game. But he kept his team in this contest in the first half of the match with a number of excellent and difficult stops on break-in chances and screened shots. Almost all the goals that went in came on scramble plays or break-ins where Day had made the first difficult save but his teammates failed to block out and/or clear away the puck.
Day, a sixth round pick in 2023, earned an Entry Level Contract this spring because he was a good player on a marginal team in the Ontario Hockey League. Day He an .894 save percentage in 59 games, with his backup Noah Bender posting as .836 save percentage in 13 games. Little wonder the Firebirds went with Day in so many games.
Day is a big goalie who moved well in the net against Calgary, squared up well to shooters and gave his team a chance to win.
4. Beau Akey. He was OK in the first game against Calgary on Friday, much better in this one, controlling play with great break-out passes and solid positional defence. He’s not a big player but he’s got a strong stick on defence. Not a perfect match for Akey — he failed to cut-out a dangerous cross-seam pass on the PK that led to a goal against — but the right-shot d-man showed why he’s a top prospect on this team.
3. Tommy Lafreniere. Edmonton’s top draft pick this year at 83rd overall, Lafreniere went from a ghost in the first game to highly conspicuous in a good way in this one. He was fast on his skates and deft with the puck, rifling into two slots shot for goals, one off excellent board work and a great pass from German winger David Lewandowski.
2. Viljami Marjala. If not Savoie, Marjala was Edmonton’s second best player in the two games. He showed up well both forechecking and backchecking, but especially with the puck, where his cool head bought him time and space when he took possession and his deft hands saw him make numerous NHL-level dekes and passes.
1. Matt Savoie. Another great game. He threw a nasty crosscheck and took a monster hit, but bouned up fast. He constantly moved the puck smartly, repeatedly set up his teammates for dangerous shots, including a wicked slot shot by Ike Howard that almost tied the game late.
Honourable mention: Quinn Hutson was sharp with the puck all night, including a sharp pass to set up Josh Samanski for a goal, and Ike Howard came out with a shooting mentality and came close to scoring two or three times. Howard did not break out in this series, but he showed the ability repeatedly to executive fine passes and sharp shots under pressure. He had a few defensive mistakes, including being late to the shooter on Calgary’s third goal, but he showed himself as a strong combination player, working well with Savoie at times.
Howard with a graty one tyimer
savoid on 3 on 1 agansets up Davisdosn. geat saucer pass
Nice screen b Samanski as von tricher makes it 5-4
marjala great backcheck and poise with puck
savoie set up howard for a near goal in final minutes. horward contorlled a bobblingh puck to get wicked shot on net
Howard and pitlick almos score in last seconds, howard with wicked slot shot ehre he changed angles, pitlick off revound