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Mental mistakes again did in the Edmonton Oilers, losing 5-2 to the Nashville Predators on Saturday afternoon.
I think this is the second or third time I’ve written that headline and lede this season.
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Edmonton again gave up two goals on the rush at even strength, while scoring not one. That makes the 10-game season total 18-to-6 against the Oilers for goals off rush chances at even strength.
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Unsurprisingly The Oilers also now have just two wins in 10 games.
Overall Edmonton has had 142 Grade A shots (which go in 25 per cent of the time on average) in the 10 games compared to 131 for the opposition, 14.2 to 13.1 per game.
But, notably, Edmonton has given up more of the most dangerous of shots, 5-alarmers (33 percenters on average), with Edmonton getting 63 to 69 for the opposition.
In this game, Edmonton had 14 Grade A shots to 10 for the Predators, with six 5-alarm shots to just five for the Preds, but better goaltending and sharp sniping was the difference.
Connor McDavid, 5. He looked more like his old self in this game, but he’s not fully back yet. He was a culprit on two goals against. He rushed up ice and delivered a hard wrister from the high slot early in the game, a play he’s not been making of late, almost certainly due to his injury. He passed out from the corner to set up Cody Ceci on the first 5-alarm shot of the game. He allowed the outside shot on Nashville’s second goal. He charged out to the point on the PK in the second, even as the Preds point-man had full control, leading to adjustments by other Oilers, leading to the 2-on-1 down low on Nashville’s third goal. Came up huge winning and moving pucks on the power play leading to Edmonton’s second goal. He came back hard on the backcheck in the second to take away an odd-man rush. He again rushed in 1-on-4 early in the third for a Grade A shot, more evidence of a healthier McDavid. Four faceoff wins, 15 losses, which is a yikes stat. Individual contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): even strength +3/-1; special teams +1/-1.
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Leon Draisaitl, 7. He was dangerous all night on the attack and solid on defence. He kept setting up teammates but they kept bobbling it or missing the net. He let up early on the backcheck, allowing Filip Forsberg to take a pass leading to his wrap-around goal in the first. He was part of the excellent and hard-working power play shift that saw Edmonton score its second goal. He made a fine rush in the second leading to a dangerous shot by RNH. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +1/-0
Zach Hyman, 7. He won a board battle to help set up Ceci’s 5-alarmer in the first. He won pucks, battled hard and went to the net and had Bouchard’s shot ricochet off his skate into the net for Edmonton’s second goal. He was too aggressive taking the ice and took a too-man-men penalty in the second. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST +2/-0
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. He had a solid enough game. He streaked up the ice to get a break-in, shorthanded wrist shot late in the first. A solid defensive stop late in the first. His hard work and rush up ice led to a Nashville penalty in the second. He got off a 5-alarm wrister half-way through the second but failed to score. He set up Nurse a moment later, but now it was Nurse’s turn to be thwarted. Five faceoff wins, 13 faceoff losses, so double yikes at the dot for Edmonton. GAS: ES +3/-1; ST +2/-0
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Evander Kane. 6. He’s not the always are still losing. Played his usual strong and physical game. Battled hard early on and almost scored on a Gagner backhand feed. He took an RNH pass early in the second, stickhandled it and went hard to the net, but failed to get the puck on goal. He threw a wicked hard hit early in the third, trying to drag the Oilers back into it. He won the puck on the boards to set up Hyman for a 5-alarmer in the third. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-0
Sam Gagner, 7. His strong play up from the AHL continued. He made a fine backhand pass to Kane in the slot for a Grade A slot shot in the first. He set the screen on Nurse’s power play goal. He made a tip pass to set up a 5-alarm RNH shot in the second. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0
Ryan McLeod, 5. A bit more good than bad. He popped a puck on the forecheck, kicking off the Virtuous Cycle on Nurse’s first period goal. He turned over the puck on the PK, leading to a second period Grade A shot by Novak for the Preds. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +1/-1
Dylan Holloway, 3. Nothing much to report. Not getting much done. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0
Warren Foegele, 7. He continues to work hard and get off dangerous shots, while defending well. Poor decision in the first to pass up a wide-open slot shot in the first. Some good hard work on the PK let to a zone clearance in the first. He battled hard and almost scored at the side of the net after a long, hard Oilers cycle in the second. He made a nice deke and hard rush to take the puck in for a Grade A shot early in the third. He hustled in hard again with five minutes left to set up McLeod for a Grade A backhander. He led the team with six shots on net. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST +0/-0
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Raphael Lavoie., 3. His o-zone turnover kicked off the Sequence of Pain on Nashville’s fourth goal. That is not a good first impression for his coaches, I’ll suggest. But it’s not like o-zone turnovers are rare for forwards trying to score. The bigger mistake here was Desharnais’ poor read. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST +0/-0
Derek Ryan, 5. Can’t find a way to get much done when he’s not on a regular line. Maybe coach should find him one. He and Evan Bouchard made brilliant passes to set up Foegele in the slot in the first, but he passed it off instead of shot. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0
Darnell Nurse, 4. He’s not playing poorly but getting burnt when he does err. He hammered home a power play slapper in the first. He made a solid defensive slot stop on a breaking Pred late in the first. He executed a Total Eclipse of the Sun screen on Campbell on Nashville’s second goal, then lost the battle to O’Reilly at the side of the net. He moved into the slot and got off a great shot but could not drain RNH’s excellent pass late in the second. He lost another battle to O’Reilly at the side of the net on the fourth Stars goal. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST +2/-0
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Cody Ceci, 6. Another solid game. But he failed to drain a 5-alarm slot shot in the first. GAS: ES +3/-2; ST +0/-0
Mattias Ekholm, 6. His game is finally coming around after an early season injury. He kept a clean sheet on defence, not one major mistake on a Grade A shot against at even strength. He made a nice fake shot, then set up Nurse’s power play point shot and goal. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +1/-1
Evan Bouchard, 7. May have been the best Oilers player in this one. Super sharp with the puck and kept a clean sheet on defence. He got off some dangerous outside shots on net in the first. He made a great stop at the blueline, then blasted a bomb off Hyman’s skate for Edmonton’s second goal. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +1/-0
Vincent Desharnais, 3. His worst game of this young season. He failed on a difficult play, not cutting out the 2-on-1 pass on O’Reilly’s power play goal in the second. Next he made a ghastly mental error, creeping up too high in the o-zone leading to a 2-on-1 rush and goal against for the Preds to make it 4-2. Such a major mistake at a key moment, so -2 grade points on that one. GAS: ES +0/-3; ST +0/-1/
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Brett Kulak, 6. He at least had a quiet game. He also kept a clean sheet. Another good one for a player trending up. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0
Jack Campbell, 3. Five goals against on 10 Grade A shots isn’t nearly good enough. He blew an edge and lost his net on Forsberg’s wrap-around goal in the first, his first important action of the game. A moment later, he allowed a pass right through his crease, but got his pad on the resulting 5-alarm PP shot by Gustav Nyquist. He failed to control the rebound on the second Nashville goal. He had zero chance on the third Nashville goal and little chance on the fourth and fifth goals.
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