{"id":520348,"date":"2026-11-06T07:24:36","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T07:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/520348\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T07:24:36","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T07:24:36","slug":"edmonton-oilers-dodge-mcdavid-injury-but-not-anaheim-ducks-power-play-cult-of-hockey-player-grades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/520348\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton Oilers dodge McDavid injury but not Anaheim Ducks Power Play: Cult of Hockey Player Grades"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Edmonton Oilers<\/a> suffered a 5-2 home defeat Thursday, on a night when a greasy play on Connor McDavid<\/a> resulted in fisticuffs and a generally chippy evening against Anaheim.<\/p>\n

It was 1-1 after one, but a Ducks goal late made it 4-2 heading to the room after two. Anaheim extended it to 5-2 in the third, before Edmonton stormed back to make it 5-4. But it was too little, too late.<\/p>\n

Officiating left a lot to be desired (yes, we’re talking about you, Cody Beach), but the Oilers nonetheless took far too many penalties against a Ducks Power Play.<\/p>\n

The PK battled hard but it was handed way too much to do.<\/p>\n

Here’s the tale of the tape\u2026<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Cult of Hockey<\/p>\n

MATT TOMPKINS. 4. Good stop on Gauthier early. Stopped Carlsson point-blank on the penalty kill right from the slot. I did not think he had much of a chance on the 1-0. Terrific save off Caufield a little later on. No chance at all on the own-goal deflection right in front on the 2-2. Back-to-back saves on a late second period PK. The 3-2 was a scramble right in front. Tompkins stopped Sennecke in tight, but after surrendering a rebound on a point shot the same guy with the initial shot made it 4-2. The 5-2 was a tick-tac-toe PP goal. Stopped Gauthier on a breakaway to keep it at 5-2. Did not get a whole lot of help. But still gave up 5 on 21 shots.<\/p>\n

CONNOR MCDAVID<\/a>. 8. Drove the puck hard to the net but then drilled into the post after the puck had left his stick. Took a short trip to the room but returned and answered back with a heavy hit on Carlsson. Perfect pass into the slot to Bouchard for the 1-1 (points in seventeen games now). Swallowed up a Draisaitl chip pass and flew down the ice, scoring in his own rebound for the 2-2 goal short-handed. Fed Leon for PP chance late in the second. Fed Bouchard for a Grade “A.” Late back on the 4-2. Second assist on the 5-3. Played 24:19. Named the game’s Second Star with another four-point night.<\/p>\n

VASILY PODKOLZIN. 9. Took umbrage with the late hit on McDavid and proceeded to thump Hellelson. The officials saw fit to only penalize Podkolzin and eject him to boot. Graded him a “9” for the response. Maybe someday the NHL will decide to protect its stars. But I will not hold my breath.<\/p>\n

LEON DRAISAITL. 6. Was not quite “on’ with his usually elite passing. PK clear in the first. Fed Dach with an absolute sitter but it did not go in. Chipped the puck ahead to McDavid who steamed down the ice for the 2-2 short-handed goal. Took an unsportsmanlike call from the bench. Popped a hard shot on net from a Walman feed. The best chance on a late second frame PP. nasty turnover early in the third but steamed back to break it up. PP opportunity in the third but could not drain it. Hammered one off the post. Ripped a one-timer from McDavid home to make it 4-3. Had the puck on his stick late but could not tie it. 69% on the dot. Played an even 24:00. Six shots.<\/p>\n

EVAN BOUCHARD. 4. Rare off game. Early turnover on a puck that needed to go deep and ended up taking a hooking call at the other end. Another puck hopped his stick, but Dickinson powered back to tidy it up. Missed the net on one second period Grade “A’ but then robbed by Brossoit’s glove on the rebound. Was “right on” his man in front but let up just long enough for Seneca to score the 4-2. Drew a third period slash. Secondary assist on the 5-4. Played 24:12.<\/p>\n

MATTIAS EKHOLM. 5. Ekholm won a tough board battle to clear the zone on the PK. More than solid play on his watch (21:13). A part of a Pk that was asked a lot of on this night.<\/p>\n

RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS. 7. Honoured at the first TV timeout for his franchise record-setting games played. Very fine high-to-low pass to Connor McDavid on the 1-1. Was back but did not lift the stick of the eventual goal scorer. Had an open net but Brossoit managed to just get a glove on it. Excellent feed to Kapanen for the 5-3. Fed Draisaitl who dented the post. Net front on the 5-4. 60% in the circle. 5v5 CF 68% led the club. One of he better Oilers.<\/p>\n

COLTON DACH. 5. Missed a gaping net off a feed by Draisaitl. Net front on the 1-1. Late back on the 3-2. High Dangers 5-3 5v5, CF 63%. 3 shots. Part of an effective second line.<\/p>\n

KASPERI KAPANEN. 6. Combined with Leon for a good PK clear. First period scrap. Second frame PK clear. Won a puck race and cleared the D-zone yet again on the PK. Good zone entry and a feed to Mukhamadullin for a hard shot. Second effort right in front makes it 5-3. Effective.<\/p>\n

RYAN SHEA. 6. This pairing was good. A turnover on the first PK led to a chance against. A bit in-between on the 3-2 goal. Played 23:31. A lot of that was on the PK where he was mostly good. And 5v5 the HDSC’s with him on the ice was 6-0.<\/p>\n

CONNOR MURPHY. 7. Shattered his stick and had defend without it on the 3-2 goal. Good drive to the net to create a chance then he had a whack at the rebound. PK clear in the second. Played seven minutes on the kill over forty minutes. Caught in between two men on the 5-2. HDSC’s 5v5 5-1. His best game in quite a while.<\/p>\n

JASON DICKINSON. 5. Excellent stick and puck rag to melt precious minutes off the PK. Hard back check mopped up a mess after a puck hopped over Bouchard’s stick at the attacking blueline. Lowered the boom on Washe early in the third. But 5v5 this line struggled (HDSC 5v5 0-3).<\/p>\n

ALEX FORMENTON. 5. Drew a penalty on a partial break that resulted in the 1-1 goal. Tough board battle and clear in the second. Pretty decent early, but I noticed him less and less later.<\/p>\n

MATHIEU JOSEPH. 3. Unintentionally tipped home the 2-2 goal from the top of the crease. Drew a cross-checking call. But took a deserved tripping call that led to the 5-2.<\/p>\n

SHAKIR MUKHMAHDULLIN. 4. He overcommitted on the 1-0. And he did the very same on the 2-2. Hard shot on the net in the third. A weaker game after a run of quite good ones. -1.<\/p>\n

JAKE WALMAN. 5. Fed Leon for a chance in the second. HDSC’s 2-3. Played just 12:18. Two blocks, a giveaway. -1.<\/p>\n

OWEN MICHAELS. 4. Good rush up the ice on the PK. Ripped a wrist shot just above the bar in the second. Teamed with Kapanen for a faceoff win and clear on the PK late in the second. 69% in draws. Some struggles 5v5 (20% CF 5v5).<\/p>\n

MAX JONES. 4. Penalized for a first period cross-check. Reverse check a shift later dropped McQueen. But did not saw-off 5v5.<\/p>\n

FILIP HALLANDER. 4. A fine backcheck negated by a hooking infraction in the second. Excellent feed to Michaels for a chance late in the second. But 0 shots, 0 hits.<\/p>\n

The Oilers are now 12-3-3.<\/p>\n

This article is not AI generated.<\/p>\n

\"Leavins<\/a><\/p>\n

Leavins Cult of Hockey<\/p>\n

Recently, at The Cult\u2026<\/p>\n

STAPLES: All three Edmonton Oilers starting goalies out of action<\/a><\/p>\n

LEAVINS: 9 Things<\/a><\/p>\n

Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025.<\/p>\n

Do not miss the news you need to know \u2014 add EdmontonJournal.com<\/a>\u00a0and EdmontonSun.com<\/a>\u00a0to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Edmonton Oilers suffered a 5-2 home defeat Thursday, on a night when a greasy play on Connor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-520348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}