Player grades: Reality check for Edmonton Oilers as Calgary Flames beat them 5-0

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The Calgary Flames were desperate for a win, the Edmonton Oilers were not — and were also on their third game in four nights.

But Edmonton’s 5-0 loss to the Flames was also a reality check for the Oilers, a game where their weak results in two-way play in recent weeks finally caught up to them.

Goalie Mike Smith couldn’t save them this time.

The Oilers are in the doldrums when it comes to even strength play. In its first 30 games, Edmonton averaged 12.8 Grade A chances per game, while giving up just 10.2 per game. But in the last 11 games, the Oilers have averaged 8.3 Grade A chances per game while giving up 11.1.

This is not a good trend and it continued on Saturday night in Calgary. In the first two periods, as Calgary built up a three goal lead, they had seven Grade A chances to just two for the Oilers (running count). In the Edmonton, the Oilers could must just three Grade A chances while the Flames had nine.

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Connor McDavid, 4. Johnny Gaudreau was his check and McDavid allowed him to score Calgary’s second and fourth goals. He got little done on the attack, not finding chemistry with anyone just now save for Leon Draisaitl, but not even with Draisaitl this game.

Tyler Ennis, 3. He is the Oilers forward most likely to make a major mistake on a Grade A chance against and he gave Flames attackers all kinds of room to move about on their third and fourth goals. He wasn’t just a stick length away from his check on both plays, he was four or five. Way too much gap there. Ennis was bumped down to the third line in the third period.

Jesse Puljujarvi, 3. A solid back check in the first saw him thwart Johnny Gaudreau on the rush, but he let Joakim Nordstrom bull by him on the rush. He needs to be more aggressive on the attack — a few times this game he won it in the n-zone but cruised with it, instead of driving hard into the Calgary end. He also wasn’t sharp making passes, and his turnover in the second kicked off the sequence of pain on the Flames second goal. He was slow on the back check on Mark Giordano’s goal.

Leon Draisaitl, 4. Not his night. He missed the net on power play shots in the second. He got re-united with McDavid early in the third, then made a bad play by taking a tripping penalty. He looked like he’d given up on the pretence of hustle half-way through the third. He led the Oilers with four official giveaways.

Dominik Kahun, 3. Too quiet. Does not seem to have the speed to help this line dominate on the attack.

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Kailer Yamamoto, 4. Took a penalty going hard to the net.

Jujhar Khaira, 5. At least he was solid this game.

Josh Archibald. Came close to scoring after making a slick move into the slot and towards the net, after picking up a McDavid feed. He wiped out on the PK allowing for a dangerous Sean Monahan power play strike. He got over-aggressive and was unable to cover the slot on the PK on Calgary’s third goal.

Devin Shore, 4. Quiet game.

Gaetan Haas, 5. He almost scored in the first when his tip off of an Adam Larsson outside shot hit the post. Good hit on Matt Tkachuk.

Zack Kassian, 2. Did he win a battle all game? Maybe send him to the AHL for a spell.

James Neal, 4. Got little done.

Darnell Nurse, 6. One of the better Oilers on the ice but could not do it on his own.

Tyson Barrie, 4. He failed to cut out the cross-seam pass on Gaudreau’s goal. He put a shot off the post in garbage time in the third.

Ethan Bear, 3. There was too much chaos, again, when he and Caleb Jones were on the ice, and much of it started with Bear this game. An early n-zone turnover led to a dangerous Mark Giordano shot. A bit later his lost battle on a pinch led to a Flames 2-on-1 chance. Another bad pinch early in the second kicked off the sequence of pain leading to Calgary’s first goal, which he finished off by failing to cover shooter Sean Monahan.

Caleb Jones, 4. His wild slide took him right out of the play on a Brett Ritchie-Andrew Mangiapane 2-on-1 in the first, but they failed to score. He made a brilliant defensive stop on Dillon Dube, but then hand-passed the puck to a Flames forward, leading to Calgary’s first goal.

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Adam Larsson, 5. He was his usual nasty self, elbowing Mangiapane in the head in the first. He got stick-on-puck on a Matt Tkachuk slot shot early in the second. He took a shortcut and took a bad tripping penalty.

Kris Russell, 4. He made an early turnover and was lucky when the Flames Sam Bennett failed to hit the net. One of those (many) games where the puck often went back to him at the point and his lack of offensive flair ended the play. He was still blocking shots early in the third with the Oilers down by four. He got out-muscled by Ritchie on the fifth goal but Smith should have had that one.

Mike Smith, 3. He got off to a good start, stoning Giordano on a Grade A slot shot four minutes into the first. Also stopped Ritchie’s dangerous jam shot in the first. But things fell apart for him in the second where he could not save his team, allowing goals on three of the first four Grade A shots that period. The Flames started to pick him apart with Grade A shots in the second, and then he himself muffed it on Giordano’s goal, Calgary’s fourth. He was truly sieved it on the fifth Flames goal, but the game was over by then.