Player grades: Stuart Skinner plays his heart out but Edmonton’s defence weak in loss to Avs

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Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner came up huge against the Colorado Avalanche, his teammates not so much, allowing Grade A shot after shot through sloppy defensive effort.

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Skinner shut down the Avs through two period and the Oilers excellent power play got them a two goal lead. But the Avs broke through for two goals in the third to tie it.

Edmonton did not have a Grade A shot at even strength until half-way through the third period.

At least Edmonton got a loser point here, with Cale Makar winning it for Colorado in overtime.

In total, the Avs had 29 Grade A shots, 13 of them 5-alarm, the Oilers 14 Grade A shots, ten of them 5-alarm. The previous high for an opposing team was 20 Grade A shots against Edmonton.

Connor McDavid, 5. Some good, some bad on a night he was -3 in NHL goals plus-minus. He made a hard shot-pass to Draisaitl for a 5-alarm tip shot, then made a massive defensive stop on a breaking J.T. Compher to start the game. He made a few quick dekes and found Hyman on Edmonton’s first goal, leaving penalized Alex NewHook shaking his head in the bin of sin. He set up Hyman with a nifty backhander for a break-in 5-alarmer in the second. But he was watching as Hunt moved into the slot to score the tieing goal in the third. As we say, McD was caught in the Red Light Zone on that play, not covering anyone or any passing lane. He broke in for a late 2-on-1 but failed to score. Two major mistakes on Grade A shots against, both of them on goals against.

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Kailer Yamamoto, 5. He hustled hard and did some good work on the PK this game. But a few defensive lapses, like most of his teammates.

Klim Kostin, 3. He blasted Martin Kaut with a heavy hit early in the game. Took a neutral zone penalty late in the second. He started off the Sequence of Pain leading to MacKinnon’s early third period goal by losing the puck in the o-zone and being slow on the back check.

Leon Draisaitl, 3. Super rough night on defence. Six major mistakes on Grade A shots against at even strength and one bad penalty by him as well. But two assists. His fierce reverse hit on Compher drew an early penalty but I liked Drai’s aggression here, and Compher also deserved a penalty here. He was playing matador defence a moment later when MacKinnon cruised into the slot and took a pass through Drai’s stick for a shot off the post. Brilliant horizontal pass through the slot to McDavid on Hyman’s goal. Lost a board battle leading to a Grade A shot early in the second but made a key pass on Edmonton’s second goal, setting up Barrie’s outside shot. He let in his check Lekkonen in for a 5-alarm wrister early in the third. He took an undisciplined elbowing penalty with seven minutes left. He made a nice stretch pass to help set up Kulak’s shot off the post in OT. He played 27:57, the coach asking too much of him just now.

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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 4. He had a few defensive lapses as well, as his line with Drai and Hyman was unable to contain MacKinnon’s line. RNH made five major mistakes on Grade A shots against at even strength. Two swell passes led to 5-alarm shots by Janmark in the third and Kulak in OT, but no goals. Oilers had five shots at net, 20 against when was on the ice.

Zach Hyman, 8. The Oil’s most effective positional player by far. He now has 20 goals at the half-way mark of the season. He was rewarded with a goal in the first, something that will happen regularly if you got to the net with our stick on the ice and McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins also on the ice. Almost scored again on a break-in chance in the second.  He hustled back hard to take away an Avs 2-on-1 in the second, kicking off the Virtuous Cycle leading to his second goal of the game, a jam shot in the crease. Almost scored a third off a McD feed in the third, but failed to shoot and couldn’t deke the goalie. His hard drive to the net went off the post in OT, then he could not bat in the rebound.

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Ryan McLeod, 4. He was skating well but didn’t break through. Needs to dig in just a wee bit more. Oilers were badly outshot when he was on the ice, though he made no major defensive errors himself. If the Oil are going to beat the Avs, Edmonton will need a new strategy, with McLeod taking on a bigger role as a checking centre. I think he’s up to it, but we shall see.

Jesse Puljujarvi, 4. He failed to make a mark this game, but nothing too bad with him on the ice. He played just 8:05.

Mattias Janmark, 4. Like JP in this one, not much to speak of, good or bad, save for one 5-alarm shot on net off a sweet RNH pass.

Dylan Holloway, 6. He was one of the few Oilers forwards who flashed an “A” game, with several good moves early in the game, topped off by a dangerous power play shot late in the second.

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Derek Ryan, 4. Hustled hard, as always, but lost a battle to Rantanen on a late second period Grade A shot.

Darnell Nurse, 3. He and Ceci leaked a ton of Grade A shots, though some part of that was due to exceptionally weak defensive play by Edmonton’s forwards and the tremendous skill of the MacKinnon line. He took a goal away from Girard off a MacKinnon rebound in the second. He and Ceci got beat clean by speedy MacKinnon on his break-in goal. Seven shots for, 20 against when he was on the ice at even strength. He made seven major mistakes on Grade A shots against. He played 28:42, too much ice time if you want him to bring his best game.

Cody Ceci, 4. Like Nurse, made his fair share of mistakes on Grade A shots against. He made a good pinch to force Hyman’s Grade A shot half-way through the third.

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Evan Bouchard, 4. He was caught on a bad pinch in the second for two Grade A shots against, but got off a good shot late in the third.

Brett Kulak, 7. He battled hard this game. He got his stick out to deflect off an early MacKinnon blast. He was one of the few sound Oilers defenders until he deflected a slot pass out to Brad Hunt, who moved in and scored through Kulak’s screen.

Tyson Barrie, 5. He was caught up ice leading to 3-on-1 rush early in the second. He did some fine work on an effective Edmonton power play. He lost the puck battle to kick off the Sequence of Pain on the second Avs goal.

Philip Broberg, 5. He was one of the few Oilers playing a steady game on defence, then he took a deflected puck off the face. He played little after that, but was generally solid.

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Markus Niemelainen, 4. He blew up Darren Helm with a nasty hit in the first but failed to contain lethal Rantanen on a rebound tip a moment later. He played just 3:29.

Stuart Skinner, 9. He came off as a Marvel super hero in the first two periods. He looked sharp on an early deflected shot by Makar, then on a high slot MacKinnon wrister, a Rodrigues backhander, a deflected MacKinnon snap shot through heavy traffic, a 5-alarm power play harpoon by Rodrigues, then an equally dangerous Rodrigues tip shot off a rebound. MacKinnon then put one off the post, with big Stu gloving MacK’s slot wrister a moment later. That made it five 5-alarm shots in a three-minute barrage late in the first that failed to score. Skinner finished off the period with stops on four more Grade A shots. He kept it up in the second, thwarting Lekkonen, Hunt, Rantanen twice and MacKinnon twice, on Grade A shots, with Rantanen and Girard hitting the crossbar. He denied Rantanen again early in the third, but on his 10th shot of the game MacKinnon broke in and put it top shelf where mama keeps the cookies. Skinner came up massive again on a Compher power play slot shot and rebound blast late in the third. He came up short on Makar’s OT winner, a hard wrister off a fast rush that likely tipped off McDavid’s stick.

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