Player grades: Edmonton Oilers again bring their A+ game in whipping Buffalo Sabers

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The Edmonton Oilers again brought their A+ game, their high-confidence, aggressive-attacking style, and whipped the Buffalo Sabers 6-1.

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The Edmonton team was dominant from beginning to end, with the top two lines led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl dominating play.

All told, the Grade A shots were 24 for the Oilers, seven for the Sabers, with 14 5-alarm shots for Edmonton, four for Buffalo.

Connor McDavid, 8. Typical great McDavid game. He had his skates going once again this game. I have stuck a quick and subtle knife into the Sabers with his slot feed to Yamamoto in the first. His piston hands from him again went to work as he slipped in the game’s second goal. He should have shot the puck himself on his second period break-in, but we can only say that in hindsight; Kane was wide open for a tap in there.

Evander Kane, 7. A smart, effective game, full of hustle plays. He won a battle behind the net on Edmonton’s second goal. He fought his way to two Grade A shots in tight late in the first. He could not get his stick on a pass from McD on the rush for a wide open shot. He put a wide-open look off a McD feed off the crossbar in the third.

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Kailer Yamamoto, 7. He’s looking great on the top line. He broke open an iffy and uncertain game in the first, hammering home McD’s soft poke of a pass with a wicked high slot wrister. He won a battle in front of the net on the second goal. Sent in McD and Kane with a stretched and sizzling dart in the second, only to have them flub the play.

Leon Draisaitl, 8. He led the team with nine major contributions to Grade A shots. The powerful leader of Edmonton’s new power line. He dazzled the entire game with an array of great passes. This newly-formed heavy hockey trio (one I’d been hoping to see for months) of Drai, Hy and JP got off to a strong start, creating two 5-alarm shots on its second shift, starting with Draisaitl breaking in hard at the net down the wing. He ripped a delicious backhand low-high and diagonal dart to Bouchard for a dangerous shot late in the first. The trio got a deserved goal in the second off a face-off when Drai bulled to the net for two rapid succession 5-alarmers. It was Drai’s 40th goal of the year.

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Jesse Puljujarvi, 6. Solid return game. Part of the big effort on his new line from him, he missed on a few good opportunities, maybe a bit rusty. He ripped a hard one-timer on net off a Drai feed late in the third.

Zach Hyman, 7. Excellent effort all game. Two assists. He got the first 5-alarm shot of the game, jamming the puck on net as Puljujarvi screened in the crease. He won the battle off the faceoff leading to Drai’s 40th. He somehow failed to score on a wide open rebound shot in the second. He missed the net on a breakaway off a third period stetch from Draisaitl.

Ryan McLeod, 5. Skated fast and played well enough in almost 15 minutes of ice time.

Zack Cassian, 5. Decent game. He got a nasty shot on net off a Hyman pass in the second.

Josh Archibald, 5. He threw one hard hit on Asplund in the first, but was otherwise pretty quiet in 10 minutes of ice time.

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Derek Ryan, 5. Quiet night, but held his own.

Devin Shore, 7. Fired home a great short-handed goal to ice the game in the third. Almost got another one with a minute on a scramble slot play.

Warren Foegele, 6. He broke down the wing and got off a hard shot on net in the second. He made a great cross-ice dart on the Barrie goal.

Cody Ceci, 7. He made a number of strong plays on the attack, gave up little on defense, the same as most of the Oil d-men this game.

Darnell Nurse, 7. Much more good than bad. He had a couple of high slot shots blocked early in the game. He fired in Edmonton’s fourth goal after a brilliant 45-second cycle by the Drai-Hy-JP line. He turned over the puck and allowed the shot on Buffalo’s first goal.

Duncan Keith. 7. Another solid game in a run of solid games. He had a jittery moment on his opening shift, almost allowing a dangerous chance, but made up for it on his second shift, springing Drai on a dangerous break down the wing with a stretched dart.

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Evan Bouchard, 7. One of a large crew of Oil defenders who had a good game. He picked off a pass in the n-zone and moved in for a hard slot shot, a play that kicked off the Virtuous Cycle on Edmonton’s second goal.

Chris Russell, 6. He played his part in a fine defensive effort. I have smashed a hard slapper on net in the first, a rarity for Russell.

Tyson Barry, 7. Lots of good, not much bad, though he did make a bad pinch early on, allowing Jeff Skinner in for a wide open look. He slammed home a great shot to score late in the third.

Mike Smith, 7. Just when the vast majority of fans had given up on him he came up with a big win. He wasn’t tested much as the Sabers had just seven Grade A shots, only four Grade A shots. He passed his first major test, thwarting Skinner half-way through the first; then he got a shoulder on a nasty Tage Thompson break-in shot a moment later. Sharp positional save off a Hinastroza tip in the second. He got beat on a blistering one-time shot in the third.