Player stats: Edmonton Oilers Columbus Blue Jackets

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It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win, and it added to the incredible beauty of the streak. The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1, extending their winning streak to 14 games.

Columbus narrowly outscored Edmonton in the first and significantly outscored Edmonton in Grade A shots in the second, 24-13, 9-6. But Stuart Skinner was solid when he needed to be, coach Kris Knoblausch messed up his line in the third period, the Oil completely shut down on defense, and Edmonton had a heavy forecheck and an early start in the third period. He scored two goals in that phase. The final goal was a true beauty of the forecheck and hustle, scored by Dylan Holloway at the end.

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According to commentator PK Saban, the Oilers are a weak defensive team, but they have conceded just 17 points in their last 12 games. that’s nice.

In total, Edmonton had 16 Grade A shots and CBJ had nine. Of the subset of five warning shots, Edmonton had eight and Columbus had six. Grade A shots hit with an average probability of 25%, and for 5 alarms he is 33%.

Connor McDavid, 7 years old. Another one-score game for McDavid and another win for the Oilers. He aimed and charged a dangerous shot, earning him his first grade A of the match, and then charged another shot in the frame. In the second, a goal was ruled out for offside as small as a nanoparticle, but in the third, Hyman scored on Elvis Merzlikins on Erik Gudbranson’s cross-check. Karma baby. Grade A Shot Contribution (GAS): Even Strength +5/-0; Special Teams +1/-0.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6 years old. He lined up with Vogele and Kane in the third set and hit the net hard, sending the puck off his skates off the post and picking up the rebound from Kane. Gas: ES +3/-1; ST+1/-0.

Zach Hyman, 6 years old. As Oil gained momentum, Hyman went in for the third. A weak backcheck towards the end of the second shot allowed a grade A CBJ shot. He was pushed by Merzlikins on McDavid’s goal, but that was a credit to Hyman’s net presence. I guess he wanted to show Corey Perry that the Oilers already had some smart gamers. Gas: ES +4/-1; ST+0/-0.

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Leon Draisaitl, 6 years old. Up-down game. In the first period, he made some mistakes that cost him some grade-A shots, but he also made two grade-A shots on net. He set up McDavid’s goal in the third. Gas: ES +3/-3; ST+2/-0.

Evander Kane, 8 years old. He brings his “A” game again. He made a quick charge and set up Vogele’s goal with a power play. Early in the second, he took a hard hit on Adam Fantilli, but let him go free for a Grade A slot shot. Kane knew where the goal was going to be, whether it was between rocks or a hard spot on the ice, and that’s where he hit Edmonton’s second goal. Moments later, he quickly slipped in and hit the post with a shot. Gas: ES +2/-2; ST+1/-0.

Warren Vogel, 7 years old. We had another good match. He made up for an early turnover, and Grade A rushed on the power play, deflecting the puck into the net for a shot. He also hit a rebound shot into the net on the third of Kane’s scoring sequence. Gas: ES +3/-1; ST+1/-0.

Ryan McLeod, 7 years old. In the first inning, Gaudreau allowed a pass on a breakaway. On a line with the speedy Holloway at No. 3, No. 3 looked better. He made a great play on Holloway’s goal, running up the ice and passing to Kulak to win the battle. Gas: ES +3/-1; ST+0/-0.

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Dylan Holloway, 7 years old. The child looks very nice. He set up Brown for a decent shot early in the third. McLeod then set him up as a grade A backhand player. He began his own scoring sequence by taking the puck off the Edmonton net and heading to the net to tap home Brown’s rebound. Gas: ES +3/-0; ST+0/-0.

Connor Brown, 6 years old. There was also a Charlie Brown moment late in the second, when the puck slipped under his stick on an open two-on-one chance late in the second. But he won the battle on the boards with Holloway’s scoring play, then went on the ice and hit a nasty shot into the net. Once again he was good on penalties. Gas: ES +3/-0; ST+0/-0.

Matthias Janmark, 4 years old. A quiet game. It’s too quiet. However, there are some aspects of PK that are OK. Gas: ES +0/-0; ST+0/-0.

Derek Ryan, 4 years old. This is also a quiet game. Also to be quiet. Gas: ES +0/-0; ST+0/-0.

Sam Gagner, 3 years old. Not his night. He went down and made a shaky pass, starting the Sequence of Pain with CBJ’s first goal. He played just 7 minutes and 44 seconds. Gas: ES +0/-1; ST+0/-0.

Matthias Ekholm, 6 years old. When he was on the ice, he generally kept things under control. After he attempted an outside shot and a rebound, he removed the puck from the open crease and saved the goal. He had a team-leading five hits. Gas: ES +0/-2; ST+0/-0.

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Evan Bouchard, 5 years old. Edmonton looked a little out of sync on the power play. Other than that it was OK with some sharp passes. He led the team in minutes and played 23 minutes and 36 seconds. Gas: ES +2/-1; ST+0/-0.

Darnell Nurse, 5 years old. Some are good, some are bad. He wandered all over the ice, not covering anyone, not covering passing lanes or shooting lanes, and got caught in the red light zone taking two of his early Grade A shots in a row. He stopped a dangerous cross-seam pass early in the second. Gas: ES +1/-2; ST+0/-0.

Kodi Ceci, 6 years old. It’s a quiet game, but in a good way. Little damage was done when Edmonton was on the ice. He led the team with four blocked shots. Gas: ES +0/-1; ST+0/-0.

Vincent Descharnais, 4 years old. He and Clack were both stuck on the ice with Gaudreau’s breakaway. In the second PK, he made two solid blocks. He blew Gaudreau away with one blow. Gas: ES +0/-2; ST+0/-0.

Brett Clack, 8 years old. Interesting game. On the negative side, Gaudreau’s departure. On the plus side, his excellent slap shot played a crucial role in Kane’s scoring moments. He played a sharp pass to Brown for Holloway’s goal. Gas: ES +5/-1; ST+0/-0.

Stuart Skinner, 8 years old. He had a big first period with a number of incredible scramble saves, followed by a terrible glove snag on Johnny Gaudreau’s breakaway snipe. On the opponent’s first goal he had little chance. Another big save, this time by Clary making the save late in the game for two points. I didn’t have much to stop him in the third, but it was a great match.

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