Player grades: Birthday boy leads Edmonton Oilers to comeback win ...

It was far from a thing of beauty, but Edmonton Oilers found a way to get the job done in the Motor City. Twice they fell behind by a goal, trailing for some 46 minutes of the 60, but as has so often been the case, their top players combined to produce just enough offence to carry the day, 3-2 over the Red Wings in overtime.

Just 18 seconds of extra time were required to seal the deal with a rare 4v4 tally (due to an expiring penalty early in the sequence). It was the third of the night in which all of Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm were on the ice. That quartet combined for 9 points, 3 of them by Draisaitl and 2 each for the others. On this night at least, the “Nuclear Option” proved decisive in a good way.

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Backup netminder Calvin Pickard also delivered the goods, especially in the first period during which his team was mostly on the back foot. Pickard kept things within reach until, eventually, his mates responded with some offensive support.

Don’t believe me? Check out this flow of play chart from Natural Stat Trick that reflects the Oilers producing just 28% of the shot attempts in the first period, but then 72% in the second and 70% in the third. Overall the visitors enjoyed a 70-51 edge in shot attempts including 34-26 in actual shots. By our own video analysis at the Cult of Hockey, it was the hometown Red Wings who had a 13-12 advantage in Grade A shots and 8-5 in the most dangerous of those, the 5-alarm shots (preliminary running count). This was anybody’s game and the Red Wings, playing their third in four days, were certainly full value for their one point. The Oilers on the other hand can bank their two and get the heck out of Dodge.

#2 Evan Bouchard, 7. Up and down performance with a couple of shaky defensive moments, but delivered the all-important tying goal with a seeing-eye one-timer midway through the third. Led the d-corps with 9 shot attempts, 3 shots and 4 blocks. Made a fine defensive play to nullify a dangerous McDavid turnover. Immaculate boxcars of 1-1-2, +3. Contributions to Grade A Shots: Even Strength +2/-2; Special Teams 0. 

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#10 Derek Ryan, 5. Played 9 minutes in a depth role and managed to saw off 0-0 where it mattered most, even as too much of that time was spent in the defensive zone. His biggest contribution was 2 blocked shots. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#13 Mattias Janmark, 5. Similarly sawed off his nearly 12 minutes of ice time, with no individual stats of any type save 1/2=50% on the faceoff dot. Drew a late penalty by moving his feet, though the PP unit couldn’t capitalize. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#14 Mattias Ekholm, 8. Another rock solid performance that included assists on the tying and winning goals. Played a big role on the latter, starting the play with a headsy feed to McDavid, then finishing it with a bullet pass across the goal mouth that Draisaitl tapped home. GAS: ES +4/-1; ST 0.

#18 Zach Hyman, 6. Continues to be snakebitten around the net. Couldn’t find a loose puck in the blue paint for what might have been a tap-in. Found other ways to contribute, notably a terrific screen on Bouchard’s 2-2 tally. Also made a hustling defensive play to cancel out a Bouchard turnover. GAS: ES +5/-1; ST 0.

#19 Adam Henrique, 5. A better showing from the vet after some shaky recent play, including positive on-ice shot shares and solid defensive play. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

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#25 Darnell Nurse, 3. Played in a complex rotation that included 12:13 of left defence with Stecher and 7:25 on the right side with Kulak, as coaches Knoblauch and Coffey have been trying a new wrinkle to maximize their group. Nurse had his issues at times, including being among the defensive culprits on both Detroit goals. Also took Edmonton’s lone penalty of the evening.  GAS: ES +2/-7; ST 0. 

#27 Brett Kulak, 4. He too was victimized on the first goal when he turned the puck over, otherwise played a fairly steady game. GAS: +0/-1; ST 0.

#28 Connor Brown, 5. Played a steady game, mustering 3 shots on net in the process. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 8. Delivered a first-star performance on his 29th birthday, contributing to all 3 Oilers goals with 2-1-3, +3. Included among them, his second overtime goal and third game-winner of the young season. Pounded 7 shots on net and was personally involved in 9 of Edmonton’s 12 Grade A Shots. Robbed on a partial breakaway in the first when he whacked a dangerous shot on goal out of mid-air. Did have his struggles on the faceoff dot with just 8/21=38% including a dismal 4/14 in the o-zone where the entire club struggled at just 7/30=23%. GAS: ES +9/-2; ST 0.

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#30 Calvin Pickard, 7. For the second consecutive start he turned 3 goals of support into a tight win. After being beaten on his first shot (an unstoppable drive off a magical Patrick Kane pass) he slammed the door for the rest of a shaky opening frame to give his mates a fighting chance. No real chance on the second Detroit goal either, a mid-air deflection from the low slot. But kept his cool, and more importantly, the puck out of the net the rest of the way, including a couple of big stops in the dying minutes of regulation. 26 shots, 24 saves, .923 save percentage.

#33 Viktor Arvidsson, 4. Not his finest hour by the boxcars (0-0-0, -2), though he had his moments offensively with 6 shot attempts, 2 of them on goal. A more glaring stat was his 4 giveaways. GAS: ES +4/-3; ST 0.

#49 Ty Emberson, 5. Played a steady game on the third (fourth?) pairing with Kulak, with the Oilers outshooting the Wings 7-3 during his 12 minutes of even strength play. Credited with 3 of Edmonton’s 11 hits, including an actual cycle-buster which has been a rare sight this early season. Had his struggles passing the puck out of his own zone at times. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0.

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#51 Troy Stecher, 4. He and Nurse had their hands full behind their own blueline, getting burned for a number of scoring chances including a goal against. GAS: ES +0/-3; ST 0.

#53 Jeff Skinner, 4. He had 5 shots on net, but also 4 giveaways. Was in position to cover for Nurse after a failed rush but made a hash of it in the neutral zone, allowing a dangerous jailbreak as a result. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0.

#90 Corey Perry, 4. To his credit he stood up for his teammate and linemate Ryan after the smaller man was leveled with a high hit. Subsequently challenged the offender, Joe Veleno, to drop the mitts and fared well in the exchange. +1 for that sequence. But the rest of his game did not go well. He whiffed on a loose puck in the blue paint, and made a couple of defensive howlers, notably a back pass in his own zone that found the dangerous Patrick Kane alone in the slot. Thankfully Pickard extinguished that fire. GAS: ES _0/-1; ST 0.

#92 Vasily Podkolzin, 6. Oilers dominated play during his 11 even-strength to the tune of 18-4 in shot attempts. Hard to square that with his -2 on the night, including a lost battle on the 2-1. But he brought the physicality throughout, landing 4 of the 5 hits that were credited to Edmonton forwards on the night. He’s emerging as a useful player, even as it is unclear if he will start to deliver offensively. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST 0.

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#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 5. Drai’s Doppelganger split his time between left wing and centre, assuming the latter position in the third period when Konblauch stacked line 1. Managed to saw off his minutes, firing 5 shot attempts and making a couple of gorgeous passes in the process. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST 0.

#97 Connor McDavid, 6. Had a tough first period and a so-so second. Drew a penalty. Came around in the third with a better performance, especially after his line was loaded up, and chipped in a secondary assist on the game winner. Still far removed from his A+ game. GAS: ES +6/-2; ST 0.

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