Player grades: Weaknesses on Edmonton Oilers exploited by Washington Capitals

The Edmonton Oilers got stomped again, this time 7-3 by the Washington Capitals, a game that saw the Oilers utterly collapse as the game went along.

Article content

Article content

It was an embarrassing performance and one that might well point to some major weaknesses on the team that will need addressing at the trade deadline. In yet another game the Oilers got subpar goaltending.

To start the game, the Oilers put their lines into a blender on full power, with Connor McDavid starting with Vasili Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen on the top line. Mattias Janmark was sent to the pressbox for this one.

Article content

Can the enitre team now be sent to the press-box?

In total the Grade A shots were 11 for Edmonton, 19 for Washington, with the subset of more dangerous 5-alarm shots four for the Oilers, seven for the Caps.

Connor McDavid, 3. Not good. Poor, in fact. Four Nations’ hangover? Almost certainly. Came out flying after a nothing game on Saturday, drew a penalty, then circled the net smartly to kick off the Virtuous Cycle on Drai’s opening goal. He was slow to Tom Wilson on the first goal, but a tough play as there was a wicked deflection here. He was one of the culprits on the fifth Caps goal, coming back hard but flying by the net. Contributions/mistakes on Grade A shots (GAS): Even Strength +0/-3; Special Teams 2/0

Vasili Podkolzin, 3. Deflected a shot off the post in the first. He allowed the outside shot on Wash’s first goal. His o-zone turnover led to Ovechkin’s goal, Washington’s third of the game. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0/0

Kasperi Kapanen, 4. He charged in short-handed for a Grade A shot late in the second with the score 3-1, but could not drain it. Part of the melt-down on the sixth Caps goal. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST 1/0

Article content

Leon Draisaitl, 7. He lashed his Executioner’s Shot on net for the game’s first goal. Great play half-way through the second, picking off a pass with his trusty stick in the n-zone then setting up a rush by Ekholm. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 2/0

Article content

Article content

Corey Perry, 4. Too quiet. He made a few fierce stick checks in the defensive slot to thwart Strome and Ovechkin early on. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST 0/0

Matthew Savoie, 3. Not his night. Fast and furious forechecking early on. He was woefully slow on the backcheck on the fifth Caps goal, his check moving up to get involved in the passing play and no Savoie there to check him. A late o-zone turnover also led to some mayhem. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0/0

Article content

Zach Hyman, 3. Are he and Bouchard in some kind of funk from not making Team Canada? But, at last, got in on forecheck in the third to set up RNH. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0/0

Viktor Arvidsson, 4. Took a bad penalty for crosschecking penalty late in the first, with the Caps scoring on the power play. He won a battle and got off a Grade A shot in the second. Won a battle to help set up RNH’s third period goal. His turnover late in third led to another Ovi Grade A shot. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST 0/0

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. Fine high slot feed to Drai for the first goal. Lost his man Protas on an early Caps Grade A. Showed some good hustle winning a board battle leading to a Grade A shot in the second. Beauty hands on his third period goal. GAS: ES +2/-2; ST 1/0

Article content

Adam Henrique, 4. Way too quiet. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 1/0

Connor Brown, 4. Had some good moments in the first due to his hustle, but otherwise not so much. GAS: ES 2/-2; ST 0/1

Jeff Skinner, 7. He got tracked down and stick-checked on an early breakaway. Lofted a pass for an Ekholm one-timer a few shifts later. Picked off a pass behind the net, took it to the front and smoked it in for Edmonton’s third goal. GAS: ES +3/-2; ST 1/0

Darnell Nurse, 4. Slammed a power play shot on net in the second. He got caught in the Red Light Zone on the fifth Caps goal, not covering anyone or any passing lane. GAS: ES +0/-3; ST 1/0

Evan Bouchard, 2. He’s fighting it big-time. Too many mental errors. An early turnover, this was leading to a quick Grade A shot. He blasted a 94 miles per hour shot off Caps goalie Charlie Lindgren early in the second, but failed to score there. But then made two iffy line changes in a row, both leading to Grade A shots, the second of them a 5-alarm break-in by Connor McMichael. He failed to stop Ovi’s outside shot kicking off the Sequence of Pain on the sixth goal against. GAS: ES +0/-7; ST 1/0

Article content

Mattias Ekholm, 4. Launched a 2-on-1 harpoon on net in the first but failed to score. He had time but failed to cleanly pick up the puck and ice it, kicking off the Sequence of Pain on the second Washington goal. Almost scored in the second, taking Drai’s pass, cutting hard into the slot and firing a hard shot. His check pounced on the rebound for the sixth Caps goal. GAS: ES +3/-5; ST 0/1

Ty Emberson, 5. He turned over the puck and then lost a battle on an early Caps Grade A. His hard low shot was deflected off the post by Podkolzin in the first. His stick exploded on a shot, leading to the seventh Caps goal, Ovi’s empty netter. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST 0/0

John Klingberg, 3. Got beat on the rush for a Grade A late in the first. Awful sequence on the fifth Caps goal, where he turned over the puck, got beat on the boards , then got passed around on the scoring play. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST 0/0

Brett Kulak, 4. Knocked down a pass and sent Jeff Skinner in on a breakaway. His turnover led to a break-in chance by Chyrchrun  in the second. He failed to block Ovechkin’s harpoon for Washington’s fourth goal late in the second, not a happy task to face up to, but one that is needed to beat the Caps. GAS: ES +0/-2; ST 0/1

Article content

Article content

Calvin Pickard, 3. Rough first period, not the first for an Oilers goalie recently. He started iffy with a bad bobble that almost found its way into the Edmonton net. Fine stop on Lars Eller off of Bouchard’s early turnover, then another one on Chychrun’s break-in backhander. He had little chance on the first Caps goal as the puck took a wonky bounce in front of the net. He was not set on the second Caps shot, a screened outside shot and goal, which is partly on Pickard. He was beat on two Californians in the first — outside shots that find their way into the net, named in honour of the Californian connection on San Jose in the 2010s, Brent Burns shooting outside with Joe Pavelski tipping them in. Those kinds of goals against tend to be backbreakers. Stoned McMichael on a break-in in the second. But he got beat a moment later on a high slot shot by Alex Ovechkin. Failed to stop Ovi’s one-timer, but who does? Little chance on the fifth goal against where the Caps went full Harlem Globetrotters. But he both turned over the puck and coughed up a slot rebound on the sixth Washington goal.

At the Cult of Hockey

LEAVINS: 9 Things

Staples on politics

Who is J.P. Prasad, Alberta Health Services’ COVID hero, now a key figure in AHS lawsuit?

Article content