Zach Hyman came back and stole the show, breathing life into a struggling Edmonton team in the Oilers 4-3 OT win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Cult of Hockey player grades
Connor McDavid, 8. High event with some defensive lapses, but two goals. Charged in for the first Grade A of the game. Slammed home a rebound goal on the power play. Lost a battle leading to an Aho break-in 5-alarmer. Another great finish to end Edmonton’s third period goal rush with an actual goal. Almost beat Andersson late in the third, but puck landed on the goal line. Fed Drai to win it in OT. Grade A shots plus-minus: Even Strength (EV): +8, -4; Special Teams (ST): +1, -1
Matt Savoie, 6. Hanging in on the top line. Excellent play in the second period to intercept a pass at the dz-blueline, kick it up to his stick, break up ice, then curled a lob pass to Henrique, who put it off the post. Grade A +/-: EV +1, -2; ST +1, -0
Zach Hyman, 9. Oh man did the Oilers ever miss this guy. What a revelation to see a forward hustling and hitting. He led the team with 11 hits. He set a pick on McD’s early Grade A, then slammed the goalie hard on the rebound, a statement of an opening shift. Blasted Team Canada rival Seth Jarvis with two nasty hits on one shift. He also put big hitter Nikishin hard into the dz-end boards. He won a race and put a sneaky pass to McD in the slot late in the second, but McD couldn’t drain it. Solid rush, puck protect and pass on McDavid’s second goal. He set up McD in the slot late in the third, but puck failed to cross the line. He launched his own Grade A on a late game 3-on-2. Grade A +/-: EV +6, -1; ST +1, -0
Jack Roslovic, 7. Another strong performance, one goal, one assist. Sent in by Drai on breakaway first shift, he missed the net. But drained his second break-in chance, a 5-alarm slotter off Nurse’s dump-in. Whipped the puck hard on net, the rebound drained by McD’s slotter for Edmonton’s 2-0 goal. He put two Grade As on net in the second, one off the side, another on a break-in. Won a puck in the oz-corner, then passed to Drai for a thrilling shot. But he went to the shooter, knocked the puck off him, right to the danger man Jordan Staal to score the 3-3 Canes goal. Grade A +/-: EV +5, -1; ST +1, -0
Leon Draisaitl, 8. Fairly quiet game on the big man for a guy who got three points, but made his presence felt in in the third period and OT. Made a solid pass on the second Oilers goal, moving in on the PP to feed Roslovic. Came oh so close to draining Roslovic’s early third period pass. Fantastic pass to set up McDavid’s second goal to make it 3-2 Oilers. He almost scored in the last minute putting one in off Andersen’s head, then drained a wicked slotter to take it in OT. Sixteen wins out of 22 face-offs. Grade A +/-: EV +7, -1; ST +0, -1
Vasily Podkolzin, 6. Up and down game, more good than bad. Grade A +/-: EV +3, -1; ST +0, -0
Adam Henrique, 5. He failed to cut out a pass on Carolina’s first goal. Broke in hard and put a shortie shot off the post in the second. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -1; ST +1, -1
Andrew Mangiapane, 5. Quiet game, but set up Hyman late for a Grade A. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -0; ST +0, -0
Trent Frederic, 2. Not covering anyone in your own zone? Not covering a passing or shooting late. You are in the red light zone, exactly where Frederic wandered about on the first Canes goal. Zero hits and he played just 7:08. He did not play for the rest of the second period and got just two shifts in the third. On merit he deserves to be on the fourth line next game, if not the pressbox. For a grinder, his feet don’t move and his motor runs slow. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -3; ST +0, -0
Noah Philp, 4. Led his team on a hard shift early on, setting the pace. But he over-pursued, then fail to spot and cover the danger man on the second Carolina goal. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -1; ST +0, -0
Curtis Lazar, 5. Good hustle to push the puck deep and end a looooong Cane o-zone assault in the second. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -0; ST +0, -0
Mattias Janmark, 4. Wandering in the red light zone on the second Carolina goal, as he was puck-watching, not covering the danger man. A few solid shifts at end of the game. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -0; ST +0, -0
Mattias Ekholm, 7, Another good game from Edmonton’s top d-man. Great block on an Aho slotter after Ek himself had turned it over. He sent in Roslovic on a Grade A rush in the second. Grade A +/-: EV +2, -3; ST +0, -0
Evan Bouchard, 5. Great stretch pass to kick of the goal rush to make it 3-2 Oilers. A couple of hard keep-ins to keep alive an Oilers oz-push late in the second. A few iffy moments on defence, but nothing too ugly. He allowed in Svechnikov for a 5-alarmer in tight late in the third. Grade A +/-: EV +1, -4; ST +0, -2
Jake Walman, 4. High event, a bit more bad than good. He won a board battle to kick off the virtuous cycle leading to Roslovic’s early goal. He gave away the puck on a Carolina rush Grade A in the first, Walman’s mistake kicking off a lengthy sequence of pain that ended 35 seconds later in Carolina scoring to make it 2-1 Oilers. Grade A +/-: EV +2, -3; ST +0, -1
Darnell Nurse, 6. A better game from Nurse tonight. Dumped in the puck hard off the goalie early on, with Roslovic jumping on the rebound to score. Grade A +/-: EV +2, -1; ST +0, -0
Alec Regula, 4. A few solid defensive stops and fine break out passes in the first. But turned over the puck to initiate the sequence of pain on the 2-2 Carolina goal. Tough moment getting caught off-balance and bowled over to the net on the third Canes goal. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -2 ST +0, -0
Brett Kulak, 6. Solid game, but lost a nz-battle on the third Canes goal. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -1; ST +0, -0
Stuart Skinner, 8. Huge game for Skinner, giving his team a chance to win with numerous timely saves. Two solid stops on Aho and one post helper on a Robinson shot in the first. Failed to get over to stop Robinson’s harpoon on a seam pass. He lost his net on the second Carolina goal. Good save on Aho one-timer late in the second, then another on Carrier tip shot, and a Jarvis break-in wrister. Sharp again on Blake’s third period tip shot. Zero chance on the third Canes goal, which came off a turnover in the crease. Huge stop on Svechnikov with five minutes left.
At the Cult of Hockey
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