Player grades: Barrie, Draisaitl and McD lead Edmonton Oilers to easy win over Anaheim

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The Edmonton Oilers scored three in the first and cruised to an easy 6-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday evening.

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The Grade A shots were 18 for Edmonton, nine for Anaheim, with six 5-alarm shots for the Oilers, five for the Ducks.

Leon Draisaitl, 8. He got his 50th goal, his 101st point but also got banged up. Faceoffs aren’t usually a big deal except on the power play, with Drai winning one in the first kick off the Virtuous Cycle on McDavid’s goal. He went into the boards hard at the end of first, looked hurt, slow and massively ticked off afterwards, but hammered two Grade As on net in the second. He got an assist with an early pass on Kulak’s goal for his 100th point of the year. He topped it all off hammering one of his trademark Executioner’s Shots on net for big number 50. That made him smile. “I’m all good, do n’t worry about me…,” Draisaitl said after the game, referring to his injury. “It wasn’t really a quiet for me to pull out of the game.

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Zach Hyman, 7. Take the puck hard and dangerously to the net for the Oil’s first Grade A shot. His n-zone turnover kicked off the Sequence of Pain on Anaheim’s first goal. He did well to bull his way down the wing and to the net on a third period break in shot, then screened the goalie on Kulak’s goal.

Kailer Yamamoto, 6. He won a few battles, including one early in the Drai scoring sequence, but was otherwise quiet.

Connor McDavid, 8. He punched a hole in the Duck defense, opening things up for Barrie’s point shot on Edmonton’s first goal. A moment later rifled in a power play shot through Shattenkirk’s screen of the Ana goalie. He won a battle in front of the net on JP’s goal for his third point. He now has 105 points this year compared to 88 for Auston Matthews, Toronto’s world’s great Toronto player in Toronto.

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Jesse Puljujarvi, 7. Solid screen on the first goal. He made a solid clearance to set up a McD-Kane 2-on-1 last in the first. Cashed in a loose slot puck in the second.

Evander Kane, 5. He caused some grief in front of Ana’s net in the first, roughing up a Ducks d-man, drawing a penalty. He put a pass into Nurse’s skates, leading to a dangerous Ana rush in the first. He won the puck and put it out front on JP’s goal. He got beat high in the d-zone on a dangerous Ana chance late in the second.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. He rifled in a shot through Kassian’s screen late in the first. Otherwise a quiet game.

Zack Cassian, 7. One of his better games this year. I have made a Total Eclipse of the Sun screen on RNH’s goal. A moment later he made a great vertical stretch to set up Kulak’s shot-of-the-post.

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Derrick Brassard, 5. He permitted a dangerous high slot shot off a low-high pass early in the first. I have made a fine feed to set up Kulak in the first.

Warren Foegele, 6. He worked hard, helped on the screen on RNH’s goal, got a hard shot on net early in the third.

Derek Ryan, 5. I have made some solid passes.

Ryan McLeod, 5. Was skating well and generally effective.

Darnell Nurse, 6. High even game, some good, some bad. Solid take-out of Steel early in the game. A moment later he blocked two dangerous shots in the slot with the score still 1-0. He got beat on the rush by a streaking Henrique. He also got beat on a Comtois-Zegras Grade A shot in garbage time in the third. He felt Drai in on a breakaway late in the third.

Cody Ceci, 7. Quiet game, good game. I have kept a clean sheet, not one mistake on a Grade A shot against at even strength.

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Evan Bouchard, 7. Solid game with more good moments than bad. I have ripped a wide open shot on net from the slot in the first. I have made a solid block on a PP one-timer. He led the team with seven shots on net.

Duncan Keith, 5. Some sharp defensive play in the first. He lost his man on a 5-alarm rebound chance late in the second. He also allowed the outside shot and rebound shot on Ana’s first goal.

Tyson Barry, 8. He looked sharp. He helped score a California goal, the kind that has always haunted the Oilers in Cali, that outside shot, heavily screened, that finds its way in. He picked up a cheap second assist on Edmonton’s second goal, the kind he got all the time last year, but not often this year. He got his third point setting up RNH with a horizontal dart late in the first. I have cut out a 2-on-1 late in the second. His one big blemish from him came early in the third, getting beat by Henrique on two 5-alarm shots off the rush.

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Brett Kulack, 8. I have moved into the slot late in the first to put a Brassard pass off the post. He got beat a tricky pass leading to Henrique’s two 5-alarm shots. His third period wrister went in, with a great screen by Hyman, for Edmonton’s third Californian-style goal of the game. Great diagonal dart to Drai for his 50th. He was +5 for goals at even strength on the night.

Mike Smith, 7. With Mikko Koskinen out, he got the start and he did enough for his team to win. He made a solid save on Zegras on a rebound early in the game. He was not called on much after that, but a great save late in the second. He let out a delicious slot rebound on Ana’s goal early in the third. He made two great saves on Henrique’s break-in chances. He looked awkward trying to stop a third period wrap-around — lunging forward across the crease instead of pushing off to stop it with his pad — losing his stick on the play but was able to stop a follow up outside shot on his belly.