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The Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 with solid defense, hard checking and great goaltending.
In the second overtime, Connor McDavid scored the winning goal after receiving a great pass from Evan Bouchard.
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In total, Edmonton has 15 Grade A shots and Dallas has 18, while Edmonton has six 5-alarm shots and Dallas has eight.
Connor McDavid, 10 years old. He had speed and played great. There’s a lot to be said about McDavid, especially in overtime. He made a spin move on his first shift and looked healthy enough for the moment. His slick move — passing from behind the net to himself and then taking it forward — sparked Edmonton’s first scoring play of the series. He took the puck hard to the net midway through the third period and nearly scored. He got a well-deserved four-minute minor penalty early in overtime, but why didn’t Matt Duchene get a penalty, too? Duchene held down McDavid, hooked him, and then McDavid clipped Duchene as he tried to move free. He went outside to set up Ekholm for a grade-A backhand, then Hyman for a two-on-one wrist shot. He got past Ottinger as Hyman set him up alone, but couldn’t beat the goalie. Then the overtime game-winner came, as he stood alone in front of the net and tapped in Bouchard’s centering pass. #97 Grade A Shot Contributions (GAS): Even Strength: +8/-0, Special Teams +1/-0.
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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 8th place. Part of another great attempt by the Oilers PK. He made a great backcheck against Logan Stanhoven in OT. He made a great pass to start McDavid’s five warning sequence late in the first OT. Every member of the Oilers PK got two full game grade bonuses tonight for shaving off 10 minutes of PK time. He won the boards battle in OT, starting a good cycle that led to the winning goal for Edmonton. #93 Gas: ES +12-2; Standard +0/-0
Zach Hyman, 8 years old. He was dangerous throughout the game. He made a nifty move early to send McDavid into the slot, but the shot was blocked. He helped set up a winning run with a goal from Draiseitel early in the second period. His hard screen nearly set up a shot from Bouchard in the third period. He took a wrist shot from the slot in overtime but missed. He sent McDavid in overtime for what would have been the game-winning goal, but he wasn’t lucky. #18 Gas: ES +5/-1; Standard +0/-0
Leon Draiseitel, seventh place. He was quiet in the first, then exploded on a loose puck in the slot and put it on the net early in the second. He came back hard to stop a two-on-one rush, but he was the main culprit, watching the puck instead of covering the dangerous player. Late in the second, Seguin took a slot pass and hit two of five shots. It was a tough night. 8 wins, 21 losses. #29 Gas: ES +3/-3; Standard +1/-0
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Evander Kane, 7th place. The apex predator was back, taking down Miro Heiskanen early in the game, as he always does, then knocking Heiskanen down again moments later only to get a penalty for raising his elbow, then slamming Chris Tanev on the next shift, blasting Hurley with a hard, low hit in the second, then smacking Tanev again in the third, then firing a slot shot into the net off a faceoff early in overtime. #91 Gas: ES +3/-2; Standard +0/-0
Dylan Holloway, sixth place. He got the job done. He came out and was called off for a slight hook on Benn late in the first period. He got on a breakaway with three minutes left and made a nice move but couldn’t get a shot off.
#55 Gas: ES +2/-1; Standard +0/-0
Ryan McLeod, sixth place. He scored a Grade A shot off a rebound by Desharnais in the second period, and while he didn’t contribute much offensively, he was huge on the penalty kick at 2:54 in. Notably, he was tied with Kane for the most on the team with five. #71 Gas: ES +1/-1; Standard +0/-1
Derek Ryan, 7 years old. The heart and soul of the Oil PK. Great play in just 3 minutes 18 seconds. Quiet at even strength but fine as a checker. He won a ton of key PK faceoffs. #10 Gas: ES +1/-0; Standard +0/-1
Warren Fogel, seventh place. He won a breakaway from Heiskanen but fumbled a shift, lost the puck past Ottinger, and a good play on the penalty kick set up McLeod for a high slot shot with 2:30 to go in the PK. #37 Gas: ES +1/-0; Standard +0/-0
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Sam Carrick, sixth place. It was a great effort: he won the faceoff and then smashed a backhand shot grade A into the net off an outside shot from Ceci early in the third set. #39 Gas: ES +1/-0; Standard +0/-0
Matthias Janmark, 7th place. Displaying typical Viking intensity in all game situations, 3:23 on the penalty kick. #13 Gas: ES +1/-2; Standard +0/-0
Connor Brown, seventh place. He got stronger as the game went on. He did some good work on the forecheck, including running up the ice to steal the puck late in the third period. He made a desperate backcheck in overtime to stop a dangerous Stars charge, then made a solid clearance in the defensive zone to end a long, tough shift on the fourth line. The penalty came at the 3:13 mark. #28 Gas: ES +0/-1; Standard +0/-0
Mattias Ekholm, 9 years old. He’s had one great game after another. You could almost say he and Bouchard were drinking Stars milkshakes in this one. He went down hard in the offensive slot early on but wasn’t hurt. He hit a one-timer shot off the bar in the second period. In overtime, he smashed a backhand shot from the slot into the net. His great work earned him a penalty kick bonus. He played the team’s longest time, 31 minutes, 48 seconds. #14 Gas: ES +6/-1; Standard +0/-1
Evan Bouchard, 9 years old. The maestro. With the ball at his feet and up the pitch, he played like Andrea Pirlo, making one great pass after another. He also got cut on a shin guard and drew a slight penalty. He made some slick attacking moves, setting up a cross-seam for Ekholm to score a harpoon that hit the bar. He won a boards battle and made a sharp pass to the slot for McDavid’s game-winning goal, earning praise from Sportsnet’s Kevin Bieksa: “Most defensemen who attack between the walls just slam the puck into the net. It takes a really good offensive-minded defenseman to get the pass to McDavid.” On top of that, Bouchard didn’t make a single major mistake against grade-A shots and kept the score at even strength.
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Do you think he’s already convinced all the haters? Probably. #02 Gas: ES +6/-0; Standard +0/-0
Darnell Nurse, 5. He had some good moments, but one disappointing moment. He nearly deflected the puck late in the second period. He took a high, strong slot shot early in the third, but he wasn’t covering the pass or his player because he was wandering around the red-light zone with his eye on the puck. And he deflected a pass to Seguin on the tying goal. He was otherwise solid, but he nearly conceded a goal to the Oils. He had another strong play in the shootout. #25 Gas: ES +0/-2; Standard +0/-2
Vincent Desharnais, sixth place. We had a little bit of trouble moving the puck. Seguin got through on the tying goal, but that was mostly Nurse’s fault. Great play on the PK. #73 Gas: ES +1/-3; Standard +0/-1
Brett Clark, seventh place. Two minutes into the game, after Ceci set up Dadonov on a breakaway, Clark was an accomplice on Benn’s fifth rebound shot. On his second, Clark’s outside shot was blocked, but Draisaitl scored on the rebound. But things were going awry, and moments later Clark fumbled the puck in his own half, allowing Benn and Seguin to score. #27 Gas: ES +2/-4; Standard +0/-0
Cody Ceci, sixth place. Dadonov got behind him on an early breakaway, but the Oilers didn’t seem to expect that, and he made some solid pinches. #05 Gas: ES +1/-4; Standard +0/-0
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Stuart Skinner, 9 years old. That’s it. A great performance. The first period was huge, Edmonton didn’t have a single grade A shot, Dallas had four. Made great saves on shots by Dadonov and Benn. A few shifts later, he crushed Seguin in front of the net on a Stars power play, stopped Seguin again on a dangerous slot shot late in the first period, blocked a harpoon shot off a low-high pass by Robertson early in the second, and made another big save on a slot shot by Marchment. Finally got beaten by Benn and Seguin. Made two saves on a completely free Seguin late in the second period. No fault on the tying goal. Made two big saves in the first overtime, plus a smart cut off of a dangerous pass.
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