Player grades: Foot soldiers win the day as Oilers outlast Red Wings

Oilers 5, Red Wings 2

Lots of sloppy hockey as might be expected after a 10-day layoff, and a fair amount of bad blood in a fractious affair that threatened to boil over a few times in the final 30 minutes. The visitors started fast with some great zone pressure but the wheels came off after about 5 minutes and Detroit dominated the rest of the first, earning a 1-0 lead that could have been much worse but for 3 goal posts. The Oilers responded with a pair of quick goals early in the second to take the lead for good, but the outcome remained very much in doubt until the late stages.

Detroit outshot Edmonton 32-28 and held a 17-12 advantage in Grade A shots as tabulated here at the Cult of Hockey (running count).

Player grades

#2 Evan Bouchard, 5. Had his moments, good and bad. Strong shot shares but a couple of major mistakes that required emergency stops from teammates Nurse and Campbell.

#5 Cody Ceci, 4. Tough night with mistakes on 6 Grade A shots, including the first Detroit goal when he got caught out of the play on the side wall. Also took a minus, though an entirely undeserved one, on the second Detroit goal when he was one of the victims of a brutal Oilers line change at the end of a powerplay. Did chip in 5:53 on the penalty kill.

#10 Derek Ryan, 6. Solid night’s work in a depth role playing with a variety of linemates. Set up Foegele for a great chance that barely failed. Part of the screen on the 3-1 goal, may have tipped the puck on its way through. A clean sheet at the defensive end, including 1:09 on the penalty kill. Took a penalty. 5/7=71% on the dot.

#21 Klim Kostin, 4. A day late and a dollar short much of the night, especially in the final frame when he took a pair of penalties (one of them pretty marginal) and also was beaten by a pass for a Detroit breakaway. 0 shot attempts of his own. Held his own and then some in the scrums, though.

#25 Darnell Nurse, 5. Another who had a rough first period, beaten for 6 Grade A shots in the frame including the 1-0 goal. Borderline terrific the rest of the way. Made a big hit at the Edmonton blue line that quickly turned a Detroit cycle into an Edmonton odd-man rush, and a goal. Another big hit wiped out the would-be shooter to cancel out a Bouchard turnover. Made 2 fine stretch passes and a third cross-seamer to Foegele at the edge of the crease. Cleared the crease of one Tyler Bertuzzi in another take-charge moment. Played just 19:11 on the night, low for him, but a team-leading 6:03 on the PK. 3 shots, 4 blocks, 2 hits.

#26 Mattias Janmark, 5. Spent most of his ice time (15:36) chasing the puck in the defensive zone. To his credit, 3:43 of that came on the 5-for-5 penalty kill, a team high for forwards. No shot attempts or hits; his only personal stats were 2 shot blocks.

#27 Brett Kulak, 7. An active night on the stat sheet with an assist, +2 and 6 (!) penalty minutes. Made his presence felt early when he stood tall against a power move by big Michael Rasmussen, engaged in an extended 1-on-1 battle against the 6’6 forward and eventually won the puck. Skated and defended well. Engaged in a running battle with Robby Fabbri, the two

eventually dropping the mitts as the clock expired.

#29 Leon Draisaitl, 4. Very quiet night, mustering 0 shots on net and 0 hits. Beaten for 2 chances in rapid succession, his best moment came in the aftermath when he charged into the low slot to clear the dangerous rebound, then immediately found Hyman with a stretch pass for a partial breakaway against the flow. A  rare non-factor on the powerplay. 5/11=45% on the dot.

#36 Jack Campbell, 8. A key difference maker in this one, Campbell (and his posts) rejected 15 of the 17 Grade A shots we recorded for the Wings. Tracked the puck well through traffic, including one fine interception of a goal mouth pass that had trouble written all over it. Saved his best work for the third period when he stopped first Jonatan Berggren, then Dominik Kubalik on clearcut breakaways not 2 minutes apart, both of them superb stops. 32 shots, 30 saves, .938 save percentage.

#37 Warren Foegele, 8. All over the ice and in a good way, contributing to 5 Grade A shots by Edmonton and 0 by Detroit. Credited with a pair of goals in the middle period, the first a great one-time shot off an RNH feed, the other a meat-and-potatoes tally from the edge of the blue paint that apparently caught some unidentified body part on its way through. Had a few other good looks, and also set up Holloway with a splendid cross-seam pass. Also in frame on the second Detroit tally, but only because he busted his tail trying to get back after a late start due to that bad line change. A team-leading 4 shots and 6 shot attempts along with 3 hits.

#55 Dylan Holloway, 6. The only Oiler below 10 minutes (9:43) but made the most of it. Involved in a pair of terrific chances with Foegele, once as the passer, once as the shooter.

#71 Ryan McLeod, 7. Scored a beauty goal on his only shot, taking Broberg’s fine pass, holding the puck to cross up both the defender and the goalie before wiring a perfect shot just inside the near-side post. Engaged in the battles along the walls and won more than his share of them. 2:44 on the penalty kill and a fine 7/9=78% on the dot.

#73 Vincent Desharnais, 6. Another positive night with boxcars of 0-1-1, +2 and excellent shot shares. His well-timed outside shot made it through traffic and deflected off Foegele for the game winner. Cleared the crease with authority if not downright relish. Made a key mistake on the Kubalik breakaway but Campbell had his back. Another time he stood tall to disrupt a 4-on-2 rush. Played 3 minutes on the PK.

#86 Philip Broberg, 7. Had a wonderful sequence on the 1-1, scored 4v4, when he first made a strong play to support a trapped Kane in the neutral zone, gained possession, charged up the left wing boards and found McLeod with a beautiful cross-seam pass that the pivot snapped home. Earned a secondary assist on the game-winner for a more routine D-to-D pass. Also had a good low shot that Kane deflected on net for Edmonton’s first Grade A shot. A couple of defensive adventures but nothing costly. 2:14 on the PK and boxcars of 0-2-2, +2 for his first multi-point game in the NHL.

#91 Evander Kane, 5. High-event game with a few wobbles including a terrible penalty for roughing after the buzzer that put the Oilers short-handed for the first 2 minutes of the third. Fortunately his mates had his back. As he did theirs on a couple of occasions, even as he largely fought his own battles. Very talkative throughout. 3 shots, 4 hits, and a perfect strike on the empty net from 152 feet that put it away.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. His regular line had a quiet game, but Nuge made his mark in other situations, including a splendid pass to temporary linemate Foegele for the 2-1. Arguably among the culprits on the 3-2 goal when all 4 Edmonton forwards overstayed their welcome on a failed powerplay, then executed a poor change to enable the jail break. But he came came through on a later powerplay for the 4-2 tally with under 5 minutes to play. 4 shots and 6 attempts to tie Foegele for the team lead in both categories. A miserable 2/13=15% on the dot.

#97 Connor McDavid, 4. Another who had an awful time of it in the first period, especially defensively, in which he was tagged fir 6 mistakes on Grade A shots including the goal. Seemed out of synch for much of the night (as did the powerplay). To his credit, he got it together in the third with a great in-zone rush which Ville Huuso barely held out. Drew the late powerplay, then earned a secondary assist with a sharp pass from behind the net through the slot to Barrie with all kinds of open ice on the point.