Player grades: Only issue in Edmonton Oilers snooze of a loss: Why dress McDavid or Drai? (2024)

Well, that’s three hours of our time we’ll never get back…

The Edmonton Oilers lost 5-2 to the Arizona Coyotes in that team’s last exit from Phoenix.

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The game was unmemorable, a whimper not a bang of an ending for the franchise in this city, with neither team mustering much energy or excitement.

The only issue that arises out of it is why Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl were even in the Oilers line-up. Why risk them in a nothing game?

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McDavid already had his 100 assists and Draisaitl his 40 goals. Why dress them?

I’m not sure. Any theories?

The Grade A shots were 10 for the Oilers, eight for Arizona, with the subset of 5-alarm shots Edmonton three, the Coyotes three.

Connor McDavid, 5. Slow start and slow for most of the game. His best play for the first half of the game was a fake wrap-around ruse in the second, trying and failing to get Connor Ingram to bite. Set up Draisaitl for a 5-alarmer in the last seconds of the second. His slow backcheck was part of the problem on the third Arizona goal. He was in on a few Grade A shots in the third. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +4/-1; Special Teams +1/-0.

Adam Henrique, 4. He failed to drain a great slot pass early in the second. GAS: Even Strength +1/-1; Special Teams +0/-0.

Zach Hyman, 5. Crashed into the goalie and caused a bit of stir. Other than that, not much in the way of memorable moments. GAS: Even Strength +3/-0; Special Teams +0/-0.

Leon Draisaitl, 5. He got a few hard shots on the net. He lost a battle in the o-zone kicking off the Sequence of Pain on the third Arizona goal. GAS: Even Strength +3/-1; Special Teams +1/-0.

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Warren Foegele, 7. He was going hard all game, trying to get that 20th goal of the year, and why not? His hard work paid off when he lashed a hard wrister into the net in the third. GAS: Even Strength +1/-1; Special Teams +0/-0.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 5. He slammed a slot shot off the bar early in the game, a near goal. He had a solid shot on net late in the third, but too little, too late. GAS: Even Strength +2-0; Special Teams +1-0.

Dylan Holloway, 6. He made a great rush and pass to set up Henrique for a 5-alarm slot shot in the second. Some good shifts. GAS: Even Strength +1/-0; Special Teams +0/-0.

Ryan McLeod, 4. He zoomed around the net and set up Foegele for a Grade A in the first. He filled in for Kulak on the blueline in a second period o-zone sequence, and demonstrated why, as Oilers commentator Jason Strudwick likes to say, “You can never trust a forward” when he made a bad, bad, bad decision to pinch in. His mistake resulted in an Arizona 2-on-1 and goal against. GAS: Even Strength +1/-1; Special Teams +0/-0.

Corey Perry, 4. Did not notice him, but he’s like to savvy to care about a nothing game like this one. GAS: Even Strength +0/-0; Special Teams +0/-0.

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Connor Brown, 4. He set up Holloway for a dangerous opportunity in the second. He was slow on the backcheck and allowed a 5-alarmer in the third. He also failed to cut out a pass to Dylan Guenther on the fourth AZ goal. GAS: Even Strength +0/-1; Special Teams +0/-1.

Mattias Janmark, 6. He executed a Total-Eclipse-of-the-Sun screen on Connor Ingram on Edmonton’s first goal.GAS: Even Strength +1/-0; Special Teams +0/-0.

Sam Carrick, 6. Stick hard and firm on the ice, right where and how it should be, to tip in Edmonton’s first goal.GAS: Even Strength +1/-0; Special Teams +0/-0.

Evan Bouchard, 4. Fine stretch pass and solid hip check on Logan Cooley early in the game. He got beat on the pass on Maccelli’s second period goal. He fell in the third and almost caused another Arizona goal. GAS: Even Strength +2/-1; Special Teams +0/-0.

Mattias Ekholm, 7. Edmonton’s best player in this one. Excellent shot pass bombed on net for Edmonton’s first goal. “Holy crap, he’s a helluva player,” Carrick said of Ekholm in a between periods interview. Yes, he is. GAS: Even Strength +1/-2; Special Teams +0/-0.

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Philip Broberg, 6. Fast and smooth on his skates, solid with his defensive stickwork. He lost track on an early Coyotes rush when the puck took a weird bounce off an on-ice official and was part of the Sequence of Pain on Arizona’s first goal. Hard to blame him on that fluke play, though. A few solid stops in the slot late in the first. Solid rush play late in the second. Bit too much gap on the third Arizona goal. He made a great zone exit, then charged the net, opening up a seam for Foegele’s goal. GAS: Even Strength +0/-2; Special Teams +0/-0.

Vincent Desharnais, 4. A few tough moments. He got beat at the blueline on the first Arizona goal, but that was really on the ref. He screened Pickard on the fourth Arizona goal. GAS: Even Strength +1/-1; Special Teams +0/-1.

Brett Kulak, 4. He was late to the party getting back on defence on Maccelli’s second period goal. GAS: Even Strength +0/-1; Special Teams +0/-0.

Troy Stecher, 5. Quiet game. He allowed the decisive pass on third Arizona goal. GAS: Even Strength +0/-1; Special Teams +0/-0.

Calvin Pickard, 4. He was OK-ish but maybe a bit short in the massive save category. Busy first period, a few hard Grade B shots, but only one real dangerous heater and it beat him. Bouchard, McLeod and Kulak hung him out to dry on Matias Maccelli’s second-period breakaway goal. His team also abandoned him on the third Arizona goal. Desharnais screened him on the fourth.

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