Edmonton Oilers turned in a complete effort in Winnipeg Wednesday night, jetting home after a 3-2 victory.
After a forgettable first period for both sides, the Oilers dominated for most of the second and had a 1-0 lead. The Jets tied it in the last four minutes to even it at one, before Ike Howard’s PP goal sent the Oilers into the room with a 2-1 lead.
A lovely feed from Noah Philp to Ty Emberson made it 3-1. The Jets scored one with the goalie out late but that’s all she wrote. Here’s the tale of the tape…
Again, we will wait on the Regular Season for actual Player Grades. In their place, a hybrid of The Cult of Hockey’s Two Good Things, Two Bad Things, Two Numbers brand:
Good Things:
-Ike Howard. Hammered home the 2-1 goal on the power play on a silky cross-ice feed from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. A nice feed to Kapanen in the same frame. The rookie displaying the tantalizing raw offence the Oilers were drawn to. Also, a good defensive effort to defend against a 2-on-1. At other moments, you can tell he has more time than he thinks he does…not uncommon for a player of his maturity.
-Noah Philp. Board battle to clear the zone in the first. Primary on the Quinn Hutson goal in the second. Back-check to help negate a 2-on-0 in the third. Great assist on the 3-1, beat three men with his pass. Zone clear with the net empty. 53% on the dot. Looks like an NHL player. Named the game’s First Star.
-Calvin Pickard stopped all eight shots he faced and looked polished. Those included a few excellent saves, twice off Barlow in the first, a high shot off Nyquist and point-blank save on Pearson in front in the second. Pickard was dialed in.
Bad Things:
-Atro Leppanen. A well-earned assist on Howard’s 2-1 PP goal. He handles the puck and sees the attacking zone very well. But the warts in his own end also showed, losing a battle against the Winnipeg forecheck, committing an ugly giveaway that Calvin Pickard had to mop up and had another turnover as well. I did like how he bounced back after the super-rough start. But he has to get that other stuff out of his game to be an NHL-er.
-The are no bad players at this level. But Seth Griffiths showed how there can be a gap between a very good AHL player (which he is) and what it takes to be an NHL-er. He committed two “noisy” turnovers in his own zone in the first frame, one forcing Cal Pickard to come up big.
Numbers:
-Check out this line for Ty Emberson: 20:36 of TOI, a goal, two shots, three blocks, two hits. Will have helped his cause to lock up the 6D slot.
-We have already noted his fine body of work tonight, but Noah Philp also led the Oilers with four hits.
Odds & Ends:
-Matt Savoie. He did not get the hi-light reel goal that Howard did. But Savoie is a very fast and complete player, making smart little plays in all three zones. Won a number of puck battles along the walls, too. Several strong defensive plays in his own end with the net empty and the Jets looking for the equalizer.
-Veterans Ty Emberson and Kasperi Kapanen showed well. Emberson scored the 3-1 and was solid on the back end…the Oilers best defender tonight.
-Max Jones showed well early in this one but eventually left the game with an undisclosed injury.
-I thought Luke Prokop played a smart, clean game on the blueline. There’s a player there.
This article is not AI generated.
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Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025.
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