Did some effective work in Chicago territory, and keyed the first goal when his deflection of a point shot created an uncontrolled rebound which McDavid cashed. Has recognized the necessity to play with some edge in his current NHL role and is doing just that. Drew three opponents including the goalie into a scrum after banging away at a loose puck in the blue paint and continuing to bang away even after it wasn’t loose. Also stirred things up himself a couple of times. Made a fine play just inside his own line to recover a loose puck after Russell’s shot block, then headman it to Kassian for a partial breakaway. With a team-low 5:14 of ice time didn’t play enough to really move the needle, but he had his moments all the same. Took a penalty and celebrated an Oilers goal from the sin bin. Did have a couple of defensive hiccups but the puck was generally moving north on his watch. A little snakebitten this last while, and was again on Saturday when he was flat out robbed by Kevin Lankinen after a great McDavid feed on a 3-on-1 rush. Delivered 6 quiet minutes on a little-used but fairly effective fourth line. 2 shots, 2 blocks, 2 hits, and 2 good minutes on the penalty kill. Had one tough sequence in which he was beaten for 2 good shots in rapid succession but Skinner had the answers. Got the job done on a third pairing that sawed off 0-0 on the night. Was particularly solid behind his own blueline. Was assigned to a partnership with the NHL debutant Broberg and delivered 22 minutes of reliable two-way hockey. He and his new partner Bouchard got burned for one ten-bell look in the opening seconds of the game but settled down nicely thereafter. He led all players on both sides with 25:06 in ice time, within a few ticks of his career average during his 16 years in the Windy City but about 5 minutes more than he’s been getting in his new home. Wily veteran found himself in a feature role just as his old friends from Chicago came calling. The home team held a 33-30 edge on the shot clock but a more convincing 18-10 bulge in Grade A shots as tabulated by David Staples and myself here at the Cult of Hockey. That’s a net +24/-6 = +18 which is off the charts good. Through 17 games, the powerplay is now a collective 21 for, 0 against, while the penalty kill is 3 for, 6 against. Not only did they kill off all three Chicago powerplays, the Oilers connected for a pair of shorthanded goals in the same game for the first time since 2010. The powerplay made it look easy in converting a 5-on-3, but it was the penalty kill unit that stole the show. Once again it was Edmonton’s elite special teams units that led the charge.
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