Under-manned Edmonton Oilers lose a narrow 3-2 battle in Calgary on the final night of the pre-season - Edmonton Journal

Minggu, 29 September 2019

Under-manned Edmonton Oilers lose a narrow 3-2 battle in Calgary on the final night of the pre-season - Edmonton Journal

Calgary Flames 3 Edmonton Oilers 2

It could be argued that the under-manned (5 regulars scratched) Edmonton Oilers outplayed the all-but-full squad that the Calgary Flames iced Saturday night.

They did out-shoot the Flames 28-22 on the evening. The visitors had a tremendous 3rd Period in particular to come from behind 2-0 and knot the game at 2. But then just a terrible D-zone give-away by a veteran D-man (Darnell Nurse) combined with a 2-goal performance by the guy who put up the biggest goose egg in Oilers history last season (Tobias Rieder) ultimately delivered the 3-2 regulation win for the Flames.

But player evaluation is more important that the ultimate performance for both sides. So here’s the tale of the tape:

Edmonton Oilers Player Grades

MIKKO KOSKINEN. 6. Stopped 19 of 22. I think you would like Mikko Koskinen to have the first Toby Rieder goal. Sure…the shot came from the dot but it barely eluded Koskinen’s (you guessed it) outstretched glove hand. And Koskinen had to have known the shot was coming as Leon Draisaitl had sealed the passing lane tight. A big 2nd Period stuff on Monahan was his best save. Had no chance on the other 2 Calgary goals. Good, not great. Not 100% he’s start Wednesday. Mike Smith is looking over his shoulder.

LEON DRAISAITL. 6. High-end distribution of pucks from Leon all night long. 1st Period take-away. Fed Sam Gagner for a good 1st frame chance. He and Gagner teamed up again on the power play later but were denied. Absolutely robbed by David Rittich on a 3rd Period opportunity. Took away the pass on the 1st Rieder goal but maybe he could have been more aggressive toward the shooter. Played 24:45. 50% on the dot. Had trouble making the PP click (1/5).

JOAKIM NYGARD. 7. We’ve seen his wheels all camp long. But finally tonight we saw some hands to go along with Joakim Nygard’s quick boots. Had 2 assists and 3 shots on goal. Also had a 1st Period give-away and was -2. But Nygard was way more than decent, making for a tougher decision for Dave Tippett to make when it comes to the final construction of the roster.

ALEX CHIASSON. 5. Alex Chiasson couldn’t convert a 1st Period dish from Draisaitl. Had a couple take-away’s. Solid on defence. Too often a half-step behind on the attack. He’s on the squad but was quiet-ish tonight.

DARNELL NURSE. 4. Missed Gaetan Haas with a dicey D-zone pass late in the game that ended up in the back of the Oilers net a split-second later, breaking a 2-all tie. It was a horrible decision. Took a 3rd Period minor but it was negated by a Calgary Too Many Men call. But those two high-profile issues aside Nurse was “barely ok” and logged 29:55…although over 8 minutes of that was on a largely ineffective power play.

ADAM LARSSON. 5. Adam Larsson played solid enough in 21:15, even though he did end the night -2. But I didn’t have Larsson even partially responsible for either one. 3 shots, a hit and a block. Far from a “problem” on a night when they did have a few issues on the back-end.

GAETAN HAAS. 6. His best game of the pre-season. Set up Jurco for a 1st Period chance. Tied the game at 2 in the 3rd with a nifty upper-corner deflection on the 1st of 2 terrific Nygard feeds. Also strong in the face-off circle (56%). Haas has been a little better with each outing and his skating was a notice-able plus tonight. He’s not “fast” but is quick. Haas could use another 10 games on North American ice (Bakersfield).

TOMAS JURCO. 5. A little quieter tonight than he has been recently but still a solid performance. 3 shots in 19:18. One of the knocks on this guy is consistency. So that may stick in the coach’s mind.

SAM GAGNER. 5. Sam Gagner fed Granlund for a good 3rd Period chance. Combined twice with Leon Draisaitl (as described above) on 2 chances but they were twice denied. 2 shots in 17:10. Was part of a sputtering power play. Decent.

ETHAN BEAR. 6. Played 19:01 and was effective with the puck. A beautiful feed to a breaking Granlund led to a Grade-A scoring chance. Earned an assist by starting the play that ended with the Haas deflection. Teamed up with Colby Cave for a big 1st Period short-handed clear. Took a high-sticking minor during a spirited D-zone battle with Matthew Tkachuck but it was killed off. The only real blemish on his night was a noticeable one as Bear was walked by Sam Bennett, only to be bailed out by his goaltender. Happens occasionally to rookie D-men.

WILLIAM LAGESSON. 4. Was over-matched much of the night. To this set of eyes, he was just a half-step behind which in the NHL can cause you serious problems. The kid has had an excellent camp. But I can’t help but think he could use another 20-30 AHL games. And that’s not a crime. At all.

COLBY CAVE. 4. Lost the draw on the 2-0. 0 shots, no hits, 43% on the dot. Not exactly inspiring. Did have one strong series on the PK.

MARKUS GRANLUND. 5. Looked a fair bit better tonight. Had 2 shots and was effective in 2:53 of PK work. Took a hooking minor that the Flames converted on the resulting power play on a Milan Lucic net-side deflection. Yes Rieder and Lucic accounted for all 3 Calgary goals. Where were they last year? I imagine how much better Granlund could have been had he been health all training camp.

ZACK KASSIAN. 8. His best game of the pre-season. Zack Kassian’s goal was a nice tip on a feed from Joakim Nygard. But Kassian could have had 2 or 3 including a 2nd Period chance off a pass from Markus Granlund but David Rittich shot out a right pad for the save. A 2nd Period take-away. Had another point-blank chance early in the 3rd but was denied. All over the ice, especially in the back-half of the game. I counted 5 Grade-A scoring chances. Excellent performance.

BRANDON MANNING. 7. Won an impressive board battle with the bigger Milan Lucic earlier in the game. In the 3rd, had a tremendous D-zone shift during which he won numerous battles and ultimately drew an Edmonton power play. The Oilers scored in the resulting man advantage. You may not like this guy. But he may have made the club as a 7D based on tonight’s solid effort.

MATT BENNING. 5. Matt Benning lost his man on the 2-0 PP goal. Rang one big blast off the goaltender’s mask. 2 hits. Uninspiring pre-season from this (now) perennial slow starter. I think he’s on team but not because he’s been terrific.

RILEY SHEAHAN. 5. A very strong defensive effort featuring one head-to-head against Matthew Tkachuck in an early 2nd Period match-up. But he did struggle in the face-off circle (29%).

JUJHAR KHAIRA. 4. More quiet than you would like. Followed up a 1st Period give-away with a strip seconds later. 0 shots, 2 give-away’s. He’ll make the squad but needs to be better.

JOSH ARCHIBALD. 5. Drew an early 2nd Period Power Play. A shot and a hit in 11:01. Very good in 2:53 short-handed. Can really skate, makes lots of smart little plays.

SCRATCHES: McDAVID, NUGENT-HOPKINS, NEAL, K.RUSSELL, P.RUSSELL, KLEFBOM, BRODZIAK (I), PERSSON (I), DAY (I), SMITH (Back-Up).

O.K….now it gets real. The regular season gets underway Wednesday night at home to the Vancouver Canucks.

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