Connor McDavid nets his 60th in Overtime as the Edmonton Oilers edge Arizona 4-3: Cult of Hockey Player Grades

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Edmonton’s best players put on a show Wednesday night, in the face of a plucky effort from the visiting Arizona Coyotes.

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because of that, the Oilers had to earn the 4-3 win in overtime, on the 60th goal of the season from Connor McDavid, no less.

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Edmonton enjoyed the balance of play. But the Coyotes checked hard and Arizona goaltender Connor Ingram was excellent in a losing cause. Leon Draisaitl put on a show with assists on all 4 Edmonton goals, two of which came from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

That is 5 straight victories for the Oilers, as they take aim at the Western Conference title.

Here is the tale of the tape…

Cult of Hockey Player Grades

STUART SKINNER. 6. Skinner delivered an excellent short side save off Keller, made that much more difficult by the fact he had only seen 1 (weak) shot over the first 11 minutes of the game. No chance on the 1-1. The 2-1 against was indeed a rotten turnover with a puck that got quickly reversed but a big save there to bail out a teammate would have come in handy. No chance on the 3-2. Did make a good save on Maccelli early in the 3rd and made a fine stop against Keller on a short-side attempt to preserve the 3-3 tie and send it to OT. Ultimately stopped 14 of 17 and was just good enough to earn the victory.

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CONNOR McDAVID. 8. Opened the scoring on the Power Play with his 59th of the campaign, a clever bank shot in off the goalie’s name tag. Attempted another the very next shift. Fed a gorgeous saucer pass to Hyman on a 2-on-1 but Zach fired it into the goalie. A deflection-pass to Hyman went wide. A strong back-check to end the 1st. Another such effort resulted in a brilliant end-to-end rush early in the 2nd. Unable to flag down the pass in front on the 2-1. Fine setup to Bouchard on an odd-man rush in the 3rd. Tremendous back check on McBain in the 3rd. Won it in Overtime after an initial miss in tight, but Leon Draisaitl got the disk right back to him, and McDavid pulled Ingram and roofed it for the 4-3. Named the game’s 3rd Star on the SportsNET telecast. That is the fastest any player has gotten to 60 in a season since Mario Lemieux a couple decades back.

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ZACH HYMAN. 6. Secondary assist on the 1-0. Could not convert a tremendous McDavid pass later in the 1st. Could not quite get his stick on a McDavid deflection a shift later. 3 shots. Played a pile (23:56) but did not get a lot of bounces.

EVANDER KANE. 5. Hung back to take away the drop pass on the first Arizona Power Play (smart), but as a result was a shade behind the play on the 1-1. Dangerous wrap-around in the 3rd. 2 shots, 3 hits.

DARNELL NURSE. 4. Had an off night. On for the 1-1 but not primarily at fault. Draped all over his man after the Bouchard turnover but could stop Keller from driving to the net on the 2-1. Got chasing deep in his own end on the 3-2. Secondary assist on the 3-3.

CODY CECI. 5. Left on his own to defend a 2-on-1 in tight and could not stop a pass across on the 3-2. Important clear on a 3rd Period PK. This pairing did not have a stellar night but to my eye Ceci played closer to what you would expect from him.

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LEON DRAISAITL. 9. A force. Earned the primary assist on the 1-0. Terrific pass across to Kane on a 2-on-1 but an Arizona stick interfered at the last second. In position but could not prevent the pass across the slot on the 1-1. Excellent defensive play deep in his own zone led to a chance for Nugent-Hopkins at the other end in the 2nd. Fabulous pass from behind the net to 93 but it was blocked. Leon did not miss on the Power Play, however, as a takeaway and slick back-hand pass to Nugent-Hopkins resulted in the 2-2 with just 9 seconds left in the 2nd frame. And that was Draisaitl’s 4th good play in that sequence. Engineered the tying goal by holding the puck for a beat and then firing a dart of a pass to Nugent-Hopkins who netted his 2nd of the night. Set up the winner first with a fantastic back-hand pass to McDavid that 97’s just missed on, but then won the resulting puck battle along the wall and dished another beauty to 97 again to end it. 24:45, 64% on the dot. The game’s 2nd Star. What a stunning offensive performance.

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WARREN FOEGELE. 6. Could not convert a fine stretch pass from Desharnais into the tying goal as his 5-hole breakaway attempt was stopped. Some hard work along the wall drew a 3rd Period PP. A late turnover as he got stickhandling in his own zone led to a chance against.

KAILER YAMAMOTO. 4. Very quiet game. Took down an opponent 200’ from his own zone, handing Arizona a 3rd Period PP.

MATTIAS EKHOLM. 8. A commanding defensive game. His 5v5 CF was 16-7, 70%. Not on for a goal against. Scoring Chances For Against 9-4. A fine 2nd Period play near his own blueline to disrupt a developing Arizona odd-man advantage was one of many smart, timely plays. 3 shots in 18:43.

EVAN BOUCHARD. 6. Nifty pass funneled through to McDavid & then Hyman for a dangerous chance that skittered just wide. Hung onto the puck too long and then turned it over behind his own net on the 2-1. Funneled a nice pass down low to Nugent-Hopkins for a chance later in the 2nd. Beat the goalie but not the post on a pass from McDavid in the 3rd. 3 takeaways and a CF comparable to his partner Ekholm’s.

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RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS. 7. An excellent performance. His initial shot off a Draisaitl pass was blocked then he missed with a second chance high seconds later. Buried a behind-the-back back-hand pass from Draisaitl from the slot with a hard wrist shot stick side low for the 2-2. Swallowed up a fine pass from Draisaitl and threaded a wrist shot between Ingram’s arm and trunk for the 3-3 goal. Easily won the shot shares battle 5v5. 4 shots. The game’s 1st Star.

KLIM KOSTIN. 6. Heavy hit on 4 into the end boards in the 1st. Strong drive to the net early in the 2nd. Didn’t play much (7:06) but was quite good.

MATTIAS JANMARK. 5. Solid performance. Even when he does not stand out in a game you do not find mistakes littering his path.

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BRETT KULAK. 7. One of Brett Kulak’s best performances in recent memory. Strong, steady play in his own end. Skated well. High Dangers For-Against 3-0 at 5v5. Whistled for a high stick and Arizona potted the 1-1 on the ensuing Power Play. But he was particularly good.

VINCENT DESHARNAIS. 5. Abandoned the man he had initially picked up as Arizona entered the zone on the PP and it was the same J.J. Moser who swept home the 1-1 from in behind coverage. Recovered for a solid performance after that. Lovely stretch pass to Foegele for a breakaway in the 2nd.

NICK BJUGSTAD. 5. Could not steer home a free puck created by a hard Kane drive around the net in the 3rd. 64% on draws. 3 hits.

DEREK RYAN. 6. Smart stick on a 3rd Period PK. 83% on draws. 3 hits. Gave up practically nothing when he was on the ice. Fine veteran performance.

PHILIP BROBERG. 5. Solid in a relatively light 9:31. 1 hit.

The Oilers are now 41-23-8, 90 points, still 3rd in the Pacific but now just 2 back of L.A., 4 back of Vegas.

Find me on Twitter @KurtLeavins, on Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and now on Mastodon at KurtLeavins@mstdn.social

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