Player grades: Ethan Bear, Tomas Jurco strengthen their claims with a brace apiece as Oilers top Jets - Edmonton Journal

Jumat, 27 September 2019

Player grades: Ethan Bear, Tomas Jurco strengthen their claims with a brace apiece as Oilers top Jets - Edmonton Journal

Oilers 5, Jets 3

The action took quite a while to heat up in Winnipeg on Thursday night, but Edmonton Oilers took command of the final period to pound home three unanswered goals and beat the homestanding Jets 5-3.

It was a big night for bubble players Ethan Bear and Tomas Jurco, who between them were involved in all five Oilers goals, scoring four of them (two apiece). Both made a compelling case to not only make the roster but to be in the line-up on opening night, now less than a week away. Many of the others in the battle for jobs also showed well, meaning headaches in the days to come for Ken Holland and Dave Tippett. But the “good” kind of headache.

Player grades

#4 Kris Russell, 6. Dave Tippett’s firm intention to play him on his natural side with Benning was confirmed when Manning, not Russell, was tabbed to switch to the right side among a four-lefty D group. Played a quiet, efficient game.

#10 Joakim Nygard, 6. He’s been a bit of a puck-, hit-, and even skate-magnet this preseason, but it hasn’t deterred him from staying involved. Drew an early penalty when he outmanouevred a defender in the corner, forcing the trip. Got clobbered in open ice with a clean hip check by Neal Pionk, but responded a couple shifts later with a booming hit of his own against Tucker Poolman. Went hard to the net front and barely missed cashing a close-in rebound. Came back just as hard to his own net to briefly disrupt a Winnipeg jailbreak, even as they ultimately cashed the rebound. Caused a neutral zone turnover, then made a fine pass to an open Draisaitl for a great chance. Made a fine diagonal pass that started the rush on the 3-3.

#12 Colby Cave, 5. Lost track of his man (Tucker Poolman) on one sequence where he missed the switch with P.Russell, the sort of defensive lapse he can’t afford given his limited offensive game. Did get a couple of decent looks but couldn’t finish. Made a terrific backcheck at his own line in the late going as the Oilers protected a two-goal lead.

#15 Josh Archibald, 6. Worker bee played with speed and aggression and was effective on the cycle on a decent line with Khaira and Haas. His fast forecheck got him in trouble with Mr. Stripes when he took out two Jets in rapid succession, still not sure which was the actual infraction. Good on the cycle, isn’t shy about shooting the puck given half a look, but also teed up a couple of teammates with some strong board work. More of the same when his won battle along the end wall started the cycle on the clincher.

#16 Jujhar Khaira, 7. Did a nice job on the Oilers lone penalty kill of the night. Showed an early flash of one of his best skills, the ability to protect and control the puck in traffic. Fired a hard shot on Hellebuyck after a strong cycle by his line with Haas and Archibald. Made a good steal at the offensive blueline to spring Archibald for a good look. Won a battle along the end wall and drew the trip, leading to the game winner on the subsequent powerplay. Then earned a secondary assist with some strong work on the cycle on the 5-3.

#18 James Neal, 7. Noted shooter had 0 shots on net but stood out for his passing of the puck on this night. Jumped on a turnover and fed Jurco for the 1-1, then drew a penalty seconds later with another drive to the net. Set up McDavid’s PP tally with a sharp backhand feed in tight. Made a fine touch pass at the offensive blueline that sprang McDavid in the dying seconds of the middle frame.

#26 Brandon Manning, 4. Played on his off-side with Lagesson. Struggled to handle the puck on numerous occasions, coughing it up twice in a row on one ugly second period sequence. Has a robust edge to his game, featured on one sequence when he aggressively fronted his own goal vs. Joona Luoto, then carried on into a post-whistle scrum. Made one desperation stop of a Jet who seemed to have wide speed. Led the Oilers with 3 hits.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 6. Pick a number, he had bad moments and good. A split second late picking up his man (a.k.a. “the goal scorer”) on the backcheck on the first Jets goal, then was also in frame taking neither a man nor the puck on the third Winnipeg tally. Slightly sluggish on a couple of offensive chances. Did play a role on the Oilers PP goal when he started a rapid fire four-way passing play ending with McDavid’s snipe. After an iffy opening 40 he was a completely different player in the third, dominating the ice and the puck, setting up the tying and winning goals in the process. Similarly came alive on the faceoff dot, winning his last 4 draws after just 5 of his first 20. His turnaround was the biggest reason Edmonton took over the game in the third, outshooting the Jets 15-3 and outscoring them 3-0 after trailing on both clocks, 11-18 and 2-3.

#41 Mike Smith, 5. It’s interesting watching the renowned puckhandler adapt to new teammates, and they to him. Coughed up the puck on his first handle, then caused another chaotic situation when he threw a grenade in the general direction of Manning. But showed his quality later, jumping on a couple of stray pucks above the goal line and turning them into Edmonton breakouts. Made two fines saves in rapid succession on a Jets PP. But was beaten shortly thereafter on a line drive up the middle when C.J. Suess batted a backhand through the five-hole on a bit of a weird one. Wasn’t able to cut out the centring pass on the 2-3. His tendency to lunge at pucks will take some getting used to. 21 shots, 18 saves, .857 save percentage.

#44 Zack Kassian, 5. Very quiet, low-event game on a line with Cave and P.Russell. Minded his P’s and Q’s, even as an F or two might have gotten away from him on one verbal exchange with the Jets bench.

#52 Patrick Russell, 6. Played his SIXTH straight preseason game, possibly an Edmonton record. Did some of his best work without the puck deep in Edmonton territory, taking his man all the way to the net in the F-1 role on one occasion, and pinning a couple of other opponents to below the hash marks. After one such he skated 220 feet to the farthest corner to pin another opponent and create an offensive look. A couple of iffy handles of the puck but nothing dangerous. Made a nice transition pass to Cave after Klefbom stopped a zone entry.

#71 Anton Burdasov, 6. There’s a veteran polish to his game which enables him to make the “easy play” look easy. Some not-so-easy ones too. Had a few good handles and neutral zone passes. Made two lovely plays on the 3-3 goal with a drop pass to an onrushing Draisaitl in the neutral zone, then an in-tight feed to Bear for the finish.

#74 Ethan Bear, 8. Played with Klefbom and responded to the challenge. Handled the puck with aplomb. On a couple of occasions he made a sharp play to step up in the neutral zone to corral a stray puck, then control and move it safely under pressure. One such sequence sprang McDavid on the counter attack. Made a lovely shot-pass that Neal nearly tipped home, drawing a penalty in the process. Drew another penalty himself which led to McDavid’s PP tally. Was part of the problem on the second Jets goal, first beaten by a pass on the rush, then unable to clear the puck or take a dangerous stick on the rebound battle than ensued. Took a hard shot off his foot that had him on the limp for a bit. Made a nice backhand feed to Cave on the doorstep. Went hard to the net to follow a strong Draisaitl-Burdasov rush and finished the play to tie it at 3-3. Minutes later showed good edge work to reverse out of traffic and walk the blueline, then blast home a point shot that got a friendly bounce on the way through. Played 21:25, second most on the team.

#77 Oscar Klefbom, 7. Made the game look ridiculously easy except that one time he got picked at the blueline and the play got behind him for the 2-2. He made a few defensive stops at the Oilers line and transitioned the puck with authority all night. His 23:37 was 2+ minutes more than any skater on either team.

#83 Matt Benning, 4. Was most noticeable behind his own blueline, mostly in a good way but with one glaring mistake when he flat-out lost a board battle to Mathieu Perreault that led directly to the second Winnipeg goal. Made a gutsy shot block of a one-time blast on a well-designed Jets powerplay, had another strong block and a couple of key defensive stops in the final frame.

#84 William Lagesson, 5. An uncertain game on a ragged pair with Manning. A couple of decent stops but less sure with the puck than he’ll need to be to secure full-time NHL employment. Made some effective pinches at the offensive blueline. He’s mighty close; he lost ground to Bear on this night but gained some separation on Manning.

#91 Gaetan Haas, 7. By far his best showing to date, playing a high-paced game with skill and smarts. Made a ton of small, positive plays in all three zones. Finally rewarded with an assist when he made a nifty move high in the offensive zone, then passed to Bear on the 5-3 goal. Oilers best on the dot at 7/11=64%, and the only right-handed stick currently in the conversation at the pivot position.

#92 Tomas Jurco, 8. Helped his cause immensely with an impactful game. Scored the Oilers first goal when he converted Neal’s quick pass, then set up the second when he fished a loose puck on to a friendly stick in the danger zone. Took the puck hard to the net on two third-period half-chances, burying the second with a nifty inside move and quick shot through the six-hole. Made a subtle neutral-zone dish to a streaking McDavid during a line change that sprang #97 into the o-zone.

#97 Connor McDavid, 7. Interesting usage by Tippett, centring an effective line between Jurco and Neal, getting a couple shifts with Draisaitl at chosen moments (a minute left in the first, then the shift after the Jets went ahead 3-2), and also got a couple of looks between a pair of bottom six wingers, just as he did on Tuesday. Add it all up and he played a few ticks over 20 minutes. Flying early, got a partial breakaway on his first and was denied first by Hellebuyck, then the side of the net on two dangerous attempts. Scored on a tap-in to finish off a quick passing sequence on the PP. Had an extended battle in his own zone vs. Mark Scheifele, losing Part 1 when the Jet made a dangerous pass, but winning the rematch with a strong steal and clearing pass. Made a great rush and shot which forced Hellebuyck’s best stop as time wound down in the second. His timing isn’t quite at its spectacular best just yet.

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