IN DEPTH
Each and every Sunday during the season we dig deeper into Oilers storylines with our long-form features. This week's feature looks back on the year that was.
EDMONTON – That Connor McDavid has just a single assist in his past four games is somewhat criminal considering the quality of his play.
But you get what you earn, not what you deserve, which is why the Vegas Golden Knights are a playoff lock these days while the Edmonton Oilers went into their game Thursday with a less than two per cent chance of making the post-season.
McDavid setup his team’s only goal and Edmonton managed to beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in a shootout. There’s not much left in this season – already – for the Oilers but beating an old foe in Anaheim, and a performance like this one from McDavid makes a few things better, if only for a night.
The reigning MVP created all night long, skating 100 miles.
“He skated 100 miles, going 100 miles an hour,” corrected his coach, Todd McLellan. “That’s not an easy team to play against, as we know from the past.
“Connor showed tremendous leadership tonight. He said, ‘Follow me. I’m going to do it right. I’m going to do it fast, and you guys come along.’ And they did.”
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Edmonton’s overall game has been shoddy. Back-to-back 5-0 losses at home are evidence of that, not to mention a penalty kill that is barely over 50 per cent at Rogers Place.
All the negatives this losing club had righted to become a winner a season ago have crept back into their game. Thursday was much cleaner, despite a power-play goal by Anaheim. It had better stay that way.
“It has to,” said defenceman Kris Russell, who buried a McDavid pass for the only Edmonton goal in regulation. “It’s that time of the year that we have to win games. We have to draw everything we can out of this game, get some confidence and take it on the road.”
The Oilers finally hit .500 before Christmas then watched it unravel after the break. Four straight losses before Thursday night, a win against Anaheim still leaves them an impossible eight points back of the wild-card spot.
The good news? They open a five-game road trip Saturday in Dallas and play in Chicago Sunday in back-to-back matinees.
“We are definitely comfortable on the road, I’m not sure what it is,” mused McDavid. “We seem to be able to find a way to put games together on the road. This is a big back-to-back here. Dallas is a team we have had trouble with in their building and Chicago as well. We have to find a way to put together two wins.”
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Out of the blue during the third period the Oilers and Montreal Canadiens announced a trade. The Oilers get veteran backup goalie Al Montoya, and give the Habs a fifth-round draft pick – which becomes a fourth-rounder if Montoya plays seven games this season for Edmonton.
Montoya makes $1.06 million and is signed through next season. While the Oilers are playing this as a chance for current backup Laurent Brossoit to go to the farm and get some games in, the reality is Montoya will be the No. 2 to Cam Talbot for the remainder of this season and next.
It’s unlikely the Oilers will re-sign Brossoit, who is a restricted free agent this summer. And even if they did make him an offer, the two NHL jobs are now taken.
“It was something we thought we needed to provide our group a while ago. It just doesn’t happen over night,” explained McLellan. “We’ve put ourselves in a situation now where Cam is going to play a ton of hockey and a young goaltender isn’t going to get as much as we originally thought he would at the beginning of the year.”
Montoya is said to be ready to come off injured reserve (concussion) as soon as this weekend. Brossoit was unavailable for comment post-game.
Barring injury, we’d wager he’s played his last game as an Oiler.
Ducks 1, Oilers 2 (SO)
On a night that Edmonton Oilers announced mid-game that they had acquired backup goaltender Al Montoya from Montreal for a conditional draft pick, their #1 man, Cam Talbot, delivered the goods on the ice. Talbot matched a red-hot John Gibson save for save as the Oilers and Anaheim Ducks battled to a 1-1 sawoff through 65 minutes. The game was ultimately decided in the third round of the shootout, and by the narrowest of margins, when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins banked his perfect shot off the post and in, while Jakob Silfverberg bounced his own rocket off the iron and out.
It was a game the desperate Oilers absolutely had to have by whatever means necessary. On balance they were likely the better team on the night, generating more shot attempts (68-55) even as the actual shots on target were dead level at 34 apiece. Edmonton did hold a 19-15 edge in scoring chances including a 10-7 advantage in Grade A opportunities, as recorded by the Cult of Hockey‘s David Staples (log and summary).
Oh, and did I mention Edmonton had Connor McDavid? The phenom was flying all night long, leading rushes, setting up chances, drawing penalties, and setting up the one Edmonton tally that broke a 2½ hour shutout streak that dated back to 2017. That goal, combined with a team defence that held the other guys under 4 for a change, was just enough to get the job done. Barely.
Postgame podcast
Eight more like that game and we can all relax. The Oilers beat the hated Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in a shootout, in a game Edmonton richly deserved to win. Bruce McCurdy and David Staples of The Cult of Hockey dig in.
Player grades
#2 Andrej Sekera, 5. A quiet game, which is just what the doctor ordered at this point. Third-pairing minutes with Benning, with the Oilers moving the puck north during their watch (shot attempts were 21-12 Edmonton during Sekera’s 14 minutes at evens). Did get burned by Adam Henrique one-on-one in OT, but Talbot had his back.
#4 Kris Russell, 7. Had 3 shot attempts and all 3 were doozies. Jumped into the rush to accept McDavid’s pass and fire home the goal that finally broke the team scoring drought; took another McDavid pass which he rattled off the crossbar, and late in the third jumped into a chaotic situation with Gibson to take RNH’s pass but couldn’t get his shot through Ryan Getzlaf’s desperation block. Blocked a couple of rockets himself in his usual station at the other end, and made another fine sliding play to preclude a shot attempt altogether which drew a nice ovation from the crowd. Was in the shooting lane on the one Ducks goal, but was unable to do much about their double deflection of Cam Fowler’s point shot. May have screened Talbot in the process but I don’t think the ‘tender would have been able to do much about it either.
#6 Adam Larsson, 5. Played a strong defensive game. Officially credited with 4 hits and 4 blocked shots, both of which led the Oilers. Cleaned up a couple of messes for his partner. Jumped into the offensive zone once and fired a good shot which rang iron.
#13 Mike Cammalleri, 7. Had an effective game on an effective line with RNH and Strome, chipping in on 5 Edmonton scoring chances in the process. His best chance was a high backhand after an RNH steal and feed, forcing a great stop from John Gibson. His 18:15 TOI was easily the most he’s played since becoming an Oiler. An extra +1 for his slick snipe in the shootout, going all the way to the side boards on the way in before bringing the puck back into the middle, then freezing Gibson with a subtle delay and deke.
#16 Jujhar Khaira, 5. Played just 7:55 on the fourth line with Letetsu and Kassian. Generated flat nothing offensively (Oilers got outshot 5-0) but little of consequence defensively either. Had 4 hits to lead the forwards, though he came out on the receiving end of a collision with the crafty Kevin Bieksa. Blocked a shot, and won 2 of his 3 draws.
#18 Ryan Strome, 6. Played with considerable jump in his step and made a strong contribution to the Cammalleri-RNH line. Showed his versatility by playing wing at even strength (15 minutes) and centre on the powerplay (2½), almost by default given Todd McLellan went with the rarely seen Four Pivot Powerplay on the first unit. Was in on 6 chances at evens and 1 more on the PP. Fired 3 shots on net and distributed the puck nicely as well.
#25 Darnell Nurse, 4. A half bubble off plumb, starting with the puck over glass penalty he took early in the first period. Played a team-high 20:41 at evens, during which time Oilers got outshot 15-8, with Nurse himself torched for 6 scoring chances. A couple of iffy decisions such as the time he waved futilely at a bouncing puck in the slot instead of taking the man, who wound up getting a splendid opportunity to score. Finally got a chance himself late in overtime and nearly put the game to bed, drawing a penalty in the process. Decent stat line with 3 shots, 2 hits, 3 blocks.
#27 Milan Lucic, 7. Was reinstated on the McDavid line in the absence of the suspended Patrick Maroon, and delivered the goods. Made the smart play on more than one occasion, namely, get the puck to McDavid and get the hell out of his way. Earned an assist on the Oilers lone goal doing just that, springing the jailbreak with a good head man pass to #97. Did similar late in regulation with a strong backcheck just outside the Anaheim blueline to again send McDavid in for a scoring chance which almost won the game outright and did draw a penalty against the scrambling Ducks. Lucic took his own penalty late in the second period — his first in twenty (20) games — for a love tap that likely scored 1 out of 10 on the Kesler Scale, but somehow got whistled; wouldn’t you know, the Ducks tallied on the powerplay. Later initiated a net drive that had the Ducks carping about goalie interference, even as it was a scrambling Fowler who crunched his own goalie. During his 14+ minutes at evens the Oilers had a whopping 22 shot attempts, just 4 against.
#29 Leon Draisaitl, 5. Centred a largely ineffective line between young wingers Caggiula and Slepyshev, neither of whom had a strong night. Draisaitl emerged from his cocoon late in regulation when he got a shift beside his old running mate McDavid, and from there to the end of the game he was the second most dangerous player on the ice. Generated all 5 of his shot attempts in the last 7 minutes of play, a couple of which could have ended the game, the Actual Hockey part of which ended when Leon’s one-timer whistled past the post in the dying seconds of overtime. That would have made for a more satisfactory ending than the shootout, even as the distribution of points was the same. Chipped in on 7 scoring chances in all. Struggled on the dot vs. the veteran Ducks, posting just 2/9=22%. Played 21:45 in all situations, which ranked him third among Edmonton centres for goodness sake.
#33 Cam Talbot, 8. After being lit up for 18 goals in 4 games since Christmas, showed up with his A game and snuffing ever Anaheim chance but one, a screened point drive that was deflected by Jacob Silfverberg in the slot, then again by Ryan Kesler on the doorstep. That was the only way the Ducks would beat Talbot in 65 minutes, during which time the stopper got the best of red-hot Rickard Rakell 4 times (though Rakell did beat him in the shootout), shut down Fowler alone in front, turned aside Andrew Cogliano’s drive from the slot after Nurse misplayed a bouncing puck, and robbed Henrique eyeball-to-eyeball in overtime. Credit also for a few times when Talbot calmly ended frenetic sequences around his cage by finding and freezing the puck, allowing his tuckered troops safe passage to the bench. After facing just 2 shots in the first period he faced a barrage thereafter: 15 in the second, 13 in the third, then 4 in overtime. 34 shots, 33 saves, .971 save percentage.
#44 Zack Kassian, 5. He, like Khaira, was on a steady diet of southbound pucks (Oilers outshot 5-0 in his 8 minutes at evens), though nothing particularly dangerous. Did chip in a couple of effective minutes on the penalty kill.
#55 Mark Letestu, 5. Not often does one see a guy who plays more on special teams (7:05) than at even strength (6:59), but Mark Letestu is no ordinary player in Todd McLellan’s master plan. All 3 of his shots came on the powerplay, as did all 4 of his scoring chance contributions. Was OK on the penalty kill, and on the dot (5/9=56%). Took a couple of nasty spills when he was twice tripped from behind; even as the stripes didn’t seem to notice my 7-second rewind provided ample witness.
#58 Anton Slepyshev, 4. Made one strong move to the net front and fired a dangerous diving shot after a Draisaitl steal, but thereafter was mostly noticeable for issues at the other end of the ice. By Staples’ count he was at fault on 6 Anaheim scoring chances, be it a turnover, a lost battle, a blown coverage, or in Slepy’s case on this night, all of the above at different points. That’s a ghastly number for a winger. Played just under 14 minutes during which time the Oilers more than a shot a minute, getting outshot 15-8 in his time. 1 shot, 2 hits.
#77 Oscar Klefbom, 6. Played a team-high 24:27 without a lot of drama, contributing to 2 scoring chances, both on the powerplay, and none against. In his 18+ minutes at evens, shots on net were a relatively low-key 8-7 Oilers. Fired 7 shot attempts on the night, 4 of which were on target.
#83 Matt Benning, 6. Returned to the line-up after a one-game sit down and responded with his best performance in some time. Played 13½ minutes at even strength, during which time the ice was tilted down hill, with Oilers firing 20 shot attempts to just 8 against. Had some effective shifts on the powerplay as well, mostly on the second unit. Had 7 shot attempts and contributed to 4 Edmonton scoring chances in all situations, just 1 against.
#91 Drake Caggiula, 4. After spending much of the season battling Slepyshev for ice time, wound up on the same line for this night. Call them the Bobbsey Twins. Spent much of the night pinned in their own territory (Oilers got outshot 14-6 during Caggs’ 12+ minutes). 1 shot, 2 hits. Did draw a penalty.
#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. A weird night with plenty of action at both ends, as encapsulated by his direct involvement in 8 scoring chances on the attack but 7 the other way. Had 2 giveaways but 5 takeaways, a very high figure in the latter category (the rest of the Oilers combined for just 6). A respectavle 7/10=70% on the dot, but lost the d-zone draw that preceded the Anaheim goal. Played a whopping 22:01, but had enough gas in the tank to set up Nurse for a great chance very late in overtime. Scored the deciding tally in the shootout with an unstoppable version of his trademark shot to the Sakic Spot, just inside the stick side post.
#97 Connor McDavid, 9. Played a whopping 30 shifts and led the forwards with 24:04 in ice time. Spent a good percentage of it skating at warp speed, leading the rush and challenging the Anaheim defence time and again, literally skating rings around them on more than one occasion. Set up the Oilers goal with a good decision and perfect pass to the open man, Russell, to convert the 3-on-1. Later fed Russell for another open look that found iron, then found Draisaitl several times during their brief minutes together late in the game. Drew a pair of penalties in the third period. Led the Oilers with 5 shots and 8 attempts, while contributing to 9 scoring chances in all situations vs. 0 against. 5 of those were primary contributions in the last 8 minutes of play. Nearly won the game outright with 5 seconds left in regulation, then hit the crossbar over Gibson’s shoulder from a harsh angle during overtime. Recorded an impressive 13/20=65% on the dot, including 5/8 vs. Kesler and 5/6 vs. Antoine Vermette, two of the best in the game. Did flub his shootout attempt when the puck bounced on him, so no 10’s tonight! An outstanding performance.
#98 Jesse Puljujarvi, 7. Had a strong game on McDavid’s right side, at least until being replaced by Draisaitl very late in the third. Just 1 shot but plenty of good puck movement, including the early outlet to Lucic that kicked off the goal-scoring sequence, even as J.P. himself was left out of the official scoring play. Missed the net on his best chance, when McDavid set him up with a drop pass on a 2-man rush conducted at warp speed. Later deflected Lucic’s outlet pass into the path of McDavid for a breakaway that didn’t cash. Like his linemates, recorded outstanding shot shares which reflect well on all three men, even as the driver of play was clearly #97.
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It took them a while to get there, but the losing streak is over. Final Score: 2-1 Oilers in the shootout
Coming into tonight’s game, all I could hope for was that the Oilers would use the hatred built up in the playoffs to motivate them. Needless to say, these last four games have been anything but fun to watch and another one of those kinds of efforts could be enough to send Oilers fans off the deep end. On the bright side, the Oilers came to the rink ready to play tonight as they completely dominated the play throughout the first period. The downside, of course, is that they couldn’t score… again. After having such a good start to the game but being unable to capitalize, I was curious to see how the Oilers would respond as the game progressed into the second and third periods.
Unlike the gongshow we saw in the game against the Kings, the Oilers stuck with their game plan and weathered any storms thrown their way until finally being able to get their first goal in over seven periods of play. That was encouraging. What didn’t change, however, was the Oilers ability to finish a game with a clean sheet on the penalty kill. Quite frankly, when the Ducks scored that power play goal early in the third period I was worried that the wheels were going to fall off. Fortunately, on this night, the Oilers didn’t get burned by their special teams despite their mediocre 50% penalty kill and their inability to score on five power play attempts. In the end, this was a hard fought win considering the uselessness of the man advantage, and I credit the Oilers for their ability to shut down a solid hockey club and grind out a win.
The wrap.
THE BRIGHT SIDE
The Oilers had a really solid first period after finishing off their last game like a fart in the wind. They definitely needed a goal but they deserve some props for outshooting the Ducks 13-2 AND killed a penalty all in the same period.
Who had Kris Russell as the guy that would end the goalless drought of 2018? Matt Henderson! But seriously, though, the Oilers broke into the Ducks’ zone with numbers and Russell made no mistake of absolutely smashing home the puck after Connor set him up on a tee. McDavid had passing options and he found Russell coming in late and Russell ripped it. Great pass, solid finish. Russell also hit the post later and was all over the puck tonight. Great game by #4.
Connor McDavid was great from start to finish and it’s somewhat surprising that he only finished with one point in this game. He was dancing all over the ice with McDangles aplenty, and he was certainly worth the price of admission.
Cam Talbot was rock solid tonight and he was there to cover up any mistakes that were made in front of him, something that hasn’t always been happening. When he is on his game, he gives the Oilers a chance to bend without breaking rather than being deflated like a cheap party balloon. Quite frankly, this is the Dadbot the Oilers need on a nightly basis. If they get this kind of goaltending then they could start getting back into the mix. Big ‘if’ there, though. Talbot finished the night with 33 saves and a .971 save%.
Oscar Klefbom had a big game tonight. He quietly lead the team in ice time with 24:27, had four shots on goal, was a +1, and had three blocked shots.
Solid night for the Oilers in the faceoff circle as they were able to win 54% of the draws they took. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins led the way with a 70% success rate.
Quick shout out to Mike Cammalleri for that shootout move. Camo Larry had the dirty dangles going on that one.
Todd McLellan played his three big centres a lot tonight as McDavid, Nuge, and Draisaitl each had 24:04, 22:01, 21:45 minutes respectively.
The Oilers have traded a conditional 4th round pick to Montreal in exchange for goaltender Al Montoya.
THE FACE PALMERS
Did the penalty kill allow a goal tonight? Yes. But the PK wasn’t nearly as bad as the power play that, somehow, went 0/5 on the night. The Oilers had their share of chances but couldn’t cash anything in. I don’t know what has to change but it has to be something. BTW why was Puljujarvi not on the power play in overtime? He’s a rookie, I get it, but c’mon.
Remember how cool it was when the Oilers killed that penalty in the first period? Yeah, that was cool. Unfortunately, that was the only time they were able to kill a penalty as the Ducks tied the game up at one apiece on a Ryan Kesler power play goal, only 18 seconds into the third period. Now would be as good of a time as any to say that Ryan Kesler still has a punchable face.
How many lucky, turd saves did John Gibson get tonight? The guy could have been laying flat on his back and the Oilers would have found a way to hit him. The boys need to recalibrate their sights a little bit.
I would have liked to see the Oilers keep their foot on the gas a little bit more as the game progressed. After outshooting the Ducks 13-2 in the first period, they were outshot 15-8 and 13-11 in the second and third periods respectively.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD TIME TEAM DETAILS SCORE No Scoring
2ND PERIOD TIME TEAM DETAILS SCORE 11:58 Edmonton Kris Russell (3) ASST: Connor McDavid (32), Milan Lucic (18) 0-1
3RD PERIOD TIME TEAM DETAILS SCORE 00:18 Anaheim PPG – Ryan Kesler (1) ASST: Jakob Silfverberg (11), Cam Fowler (9) 1-1
OT PERIOD TIME TEAM DETAILS SCORE No Scoring
SHOOTOUT TEAM DETAILS Edmonton Missed – Connor McDavid Anaheim Missed – Ryan Getzlaf Edmonton Goal – Michael Cammalleri Anaheim Goal – Rickard Rakell Edmonton Goal – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Anaheim Missed – Jakob Silfverberg
#GOODCONTENT
Trying to start a 'Darryl' chant for @jsbmbaggedmilk but no one's joining in. — John Epler (@eplerjc) January 5, 2018
I’ve got your alibi covered…you’re good. Do what needs to be done — JD 🏒💍 ⚽️ (@JackieDee16) January 5, 2018
@OilersNation Oh my lord. A Kris Russell goal to end the goal drought??!!?!! 2018 IS FREAKING WILD. — StephyKei (@stephylee0526) January 5, 2018
I love an in game trade though…i don’t care how mediocre of an impact it will have. — Jason Bilyk (@JasonBilyk) January 5, 2018
Great work by SN to get the live shot of Laurent Brossoit looking up his flight itinerary to the AHL. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/IID0hamTFE — Mike McKinnon (@mikemckinnon) January 5, 2018
Talk to me, Twitter. Tweet at @OilersNation and @jsbmbaggedmilk for your chance to land in the Best of the Tweets.
THE REAL LIFE PODCAST
On this week’s Real Life Podcast, the boys talk about what the hell happened in the two weeks since our last episode, what would it take to get Erik Karlsson out of Ottawa, and wonder where the team will go from here.
Source: NHL.com, Official Game Page, 01/04/2018, 10:15pm MST
