Player grades: McDavid-Draisaitl line reunited, sparks comeback as Oilers snuff out Flames, 3-2

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Edmonton Oilers Jesse Puljujarvi (13) scores on Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom (25) during NHL action at Rogers Place in Edmonton, March 6, 2021.Edmonton Oilers Jesse Puljujarvi (13) scores on Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom (25) during NHL action at Rogers Place in Edmonton, March 6, 2021. Photo by Ed Kaiser /Postmedia

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Flames 2, Oilers 3

Massive win for Edmonton Oilers over Calgary Flames on Saturday, as they bounced back not only from an ugly three-game losing slide, but also from a pair of deficits in the game itself to pull it out, 3-2 in regulation.

It was a slow start for the Oil, outshot 21-10 in the first period with Mike Smith limiting the damage to just the 0-1 deficit.

With just 1 goal in 10 periods, Dave Tippett went to his nuclear option at the start of the second, teaming up his two star attackers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same line for the first time in 14 months. It sure paid off as both were on the ice for all three Oilers goals, and none against. McDavid did much of the damage with assists on snipes by young wingers Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto before sniping the game winner himself with 3:45 left in the third period. The Oilers survived a couple of nervous moments down the stretch to seal the win in regulation and send the Flames back down the QE2 with nothing to show for what had been a pretty good effort. The Flames had a narrow 36-33 edge in shots on goal 36-33 and 8-7 in Grade A Scoring chances (running count).

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It was a heavy-hitting affair with over 80 official hits and a pair of heavyweight fights, as the bad blood between the two provincial rivals continues to build as the 10-game season series progresses.

The regulation win padded Edmonton’s lead from four to six points over fifth-place Calgary, a major step towards stopping the bleeding of the recent three-game sweep at the hands of first-place Toronto.

Player grades

#4 Kris Russell, 6. A rare high event night as he was directly involved in 3 of the 5 goals. Chipped in a primary assist on the 1-1, when he found a shooting lane for himself and fired an outside shot into the danger area, where Puljujarvi cleaned up the winner. Made a better door than window on the 1-2 when he screened Smith at just the wrong moment. Then earned a secondary apple on the game winner with a good outlet pass that sent Yamamoto away with McDavid. Some good work on the penalty kill. 2 shots, 3 blocks, 3 giveaways, 2 hits.

#6 Adam Larsson, 6. Looked after business with another sturdy performance in his own end of the ice. 4 hits, 3 blocked shots, another night at the office.

#8 Kyle Turris, 4. Had some OK moments in this game, notably one sequence which he started with a fine outlet pass before joining the rush to fire a heavy outside shot from a tough angle. But the play was heavily tilted towards Edmonton’s end during his nearly 12 minutes at evens, with Edmonton recording just 29% of shot attempts on his watch. Lost a battle, then failed to get in the shooting lane on the second Calgary goal, though that was in part due to bad luck when he broke his stick blocking an earlier shot. Got absolutely smoked with a heavy open-ice hit by Calgary’s Christopher Tanev.

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#13 Jesse Puljujarvi, 7. Spent almost equal time on lines with McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins, and enjoyed outstanding possession numbers with both. Oilers had a 76% share (19 for, 6 against) of shot attempts during his 13 minutes at evens. Had 2 great chances of his own from close range, a deflection from the low slot and the rebound from a point shot, cashing the second of those for the all-important 1-1 tally late in the second period. Credited with 3 shots and 4 hits in an impressive all-round performance.

#14 Devin Shore, 6. Hustled hard and did some excellent work on the penalty kill, making a couple of key clearances.

#16 Jujhar Khaira, 5. Hit everything that moved and a couple of things that didn’t, finishing with a game-high 8 hits. Was among those beaten on the second Calgary goal. Drew a penalty. 3/9=33% on the faceoff dot.

#18 James Neal, 6. Stepped it up on a low-event line that allowed just 2 Calgary shot attempts in nearly 8 minutes of action. Made one timely stick check high in the defensive zone to disrupt what looked to be a dangerous attack in the late going. Accepted Matt Tkachuk’s invitation to drop the gloves, and engaged in a long, spirited tilt with the Flames miscreant, landing a few decent shots in the process.

#21 Dominik Kahun, 5. Quietly effective in 11½ minutes with 4 shot attempts, 2 of them on net. Nothing particularly dangerous though. Got cranked by Matt Tkachuk along the way, but bounced up quickly.

#22 Tyson Barrie, 7. Heavily involved in the Oilers attack, firing a game-high 8 shots on net. Slipped behind the Calgary defence to skate onto Yamamoto’s fine saucer pass and direct a tough deflection off his backhand side that forced a tough stop. His stretch pass kicked off the four-way passing play that tied the score at 2-2. Chipped in 4 Grade A chances for the Oilers, dinged on just 1 by the Flames, though that was a dangerous d-zone turnover in the late going. Thankfully Smith had his back on that one. Oilers dominated the possession battle during his 24 minutes at evens with 29 shot attempts to just 16 for Calgary. His 25:35 of ice time topped all defencemen on both teams…

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#25 Darnell Nurse, 6. …an honour usually reserved for Nurse, who played just a few seconds less than Barrie at 25:08. Not bad considering he spent 5 minutes in the penalty box after an extended scrap with former teammate Milan Lucic. Absorbed a couple of shots from the menacing winger, but landed a couple of his own in an attempt to spark his team. Otherwise a fairly even-keel, low-event game. Fine demonstration of patience on one second-period sequence when he controlled a loose puck under pressure and reversed his field a couple of times before finally finding a lane and lugging the disc to safety.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 7. His 26:04 of ice time led all skaters of both teams. His cross-ice pass to Yamamoto on the 2-2 was a thing of beauty, his only scoring point on a +3 night. Took a couple of marginal penalties, both of which were killed by his mates. His 2 official shots both came on the same Edmonton powerplay, a terrific deflection from the low slot and a one-time bullet that forced perhaps Jacob Markstrom’s best stop of the night. Could have made the dying seconds less tense if he’d been able to hit the empty net earlier in the sequence. Skated hard, made things happen. 60% share of shot attempts and 10/17=59% on the dot.

#39 Alex Chiasson, 5. Solid, low-event performance. Provided some heavy shade in Markstrom’s eyes that complicated Draisaitl’s powerplay deflection. Took a heavy hit right in the numbers that somehow went undetected.

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#41 Mike Smith, 8. Bounced back from Thursday’s 6 goals against with a strong game from start to finish. Turned aside 20 Calgary drives in the first period to keep the Oilers in the game. His teammates responded thereafter with better defence (just 15 shots against in the final 40) and just enough goal support. Had little chance on either goal, the first being a burial of a cross-seam pass, the second a perfectly-placed outside shot that he never saw due to a double screen. Made some big stops along the way. Got a little fortunate when Johnny Gaudreau’s close-in shot with 15 seconds to play missed a tiny hole over his stick side shoulder and thudded against the glass. 36 shots, 34 saves. .944 save percentage.

#56 Kailer Yamamoto, 7. Made a great aerial feed to Barrie for a fine scoring chance, but seconds later took an unnecessary and costly penalty 180 feet from his own net that led to Calgary’s opening goal. But made up for that in a big way down the stretch when he netted the game-tying goal converting a Draisaitl feed, then fed McDavid for the game winner. Had some real jump in his step especially after he was given the chance to play alongside the two superstars.

#74 Ethan Bear, 5. Generally solid bounceback game after a tough one on Wednesday, playing 12 minutes of low-event hockey at evens. Shot shares weren’t pretty even as he conceded little of danger at 5v5. Among those beaten on the Calgary powerplay goal. 2 hits, 1 takeaway.

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#82 Caleb Jones, 5. One early turnover led to a Flames chance, but tamped things down thereafter and contributed decent two-way hockey. Drew a penalty.

#91 Gaetan Haas, 6. Centred an effective fourth line, contributed a minute and a half of strong penalty killing and an excellent (especially for him) 7/9=78% on the dot. Tippett trusted him with a shift in the last minute with Calgary’s 6 attackers pressing for the equalizer.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 5. Part of the problem on Calgary’s opening goal twice over, first being unable to clear the puck, then to take away a lane. Returned to the centre position for the final two periods, mostly between Kahun and Puljujarvi. Had little happening offensively, just 1 shot on net and 0 contributions to Grade A chances. But his line held its own defensively at evens. 4/6=68% on the dot.

#97 Connor McDavid, 8. Quiet first period saw his line spend way too much time in the defensive zone, but after the line shuffle he and his new mates started to come on strong and eventually dominate. Earned secondary assists on both the 1-1 and 2-2 goals, then took matters into his own hands with a quick shift of shooting angles and a laser of a shot that rang off the far post on its way into the net. Just 4/10=40% on the dot but 5 shots on net, 3 hits and 2 takeaways.  Also made a key backcheck to disrupt an apparent 2-on-1.

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Follow me on Twitter @BruceMcCurdy

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