Player grades: Edmonton Oilers clinch playoffs by crunching Colorado Avalanche 6-3

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The Edmonton Oilers came out slow but got stronger as the game went along, with Evander Kane powering an offensive avalanche that helped crush the Colorado Avalanche 6-3.

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What seemed unlikely in the final days of Dave Tippett is now a reality, with the Oilers clinching a playoff spot under new coach Jay Woodcroft. The Oilers have 23 wins and 11 losses under Woodcroft.

In the end, Grade A shots were 11 for the Oilers, 17 for the Avs, with seven 5-alarm shots for Edmonton and four for the Avs.

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Connor McDavid, 7. Solid game. Three assists, though none of them spectacular in any way. No shots on net. He rushed the puck up ice and made a quick deke, then laid it off to Kane on Edmonton’s first goal. He executed a sharp horizontal dart just outside the blueline to help send in Kane on his hat trick goal. He also set up Kane in the sequence leading to Yamamoto’s goal. McD missed the net on a breakaway in the third, largely because he got hacked on the hands. He now has 116 points, compared to 113 for Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau, who has one game in hand in this NHL scoring title race.

Kailer Yamamoto, 7. Energetic and effective. He pounced on a rebound to push along the Virtuous Cycle on Kane’s second goal. He jumped on a loose puck in the slot to backhand in Edmonton’s fifth goal, Yamamoto’s 19th of the season.

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Evander Kane, 9. Edmonton’s offensive engine in this game, with three goals, on assist. He was over-aggressive and allowed a lethal pass creating a 3-on-1 on the first Avs goal. He started off his first goal-scoring sequence with a wicked slash check, popping the puck to McD, then slammed home the wrap-around, with the normally reliable Kuemper way out of position. On his second goal, he won a board battle, got one five-alarm shot off a Bouchard outside blast, then a second to score off a great pass from Keith. Most spectacular was his third goal from him, where he knocked out Josh Manson, then Kuemper on a break-in. He also found time to push around nasty Nazem Kadri. He fired a shot on net which rebounded off an Avs d-man to Yamamoto for Edmonton’s fifth goal.

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Leon Draisaitl, 7. A beast in a big moment in the game, making a crucial pokecheck to thwart the Colorado 5-on-3 early in the second, then hurt a few more passes to kill off the sequence. He was arguably slow to the shooter Nichushkin on his second goal. He knocked Cale Makar on his butt with a sneaky shoulder. He took the puck like a freight train to the net for a 5-alarm jam shot. A moment later he picked off a Manson pass and broke in for a hard snap shot.

Ryan McLeod, 4. He made an error in fundamentals, spinning and turning away from the play, leading to MacKinnon’s power play one-timer in the first. He let MacKinnon get behind for a 5-alarm shot in the second. He was quiet on the attack.

Zach Hyman, 5. His turnover led to a dangerous early 2-on-1, his first of several defensive miscues. He charged in on a breakaway in the third. He worked hard throughout, as usual.

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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. He got off a tricky slot wrister in the first. His hooking penalty led to a 1:11 Avs’ 5-on-3. Sportsnet commentator Bob Stauffer called the penalty a “BS” call and a “joke.” RNH made a sharp pass to Bouchard on his scoring sequence. I have snapped a power play wrister off the bar. He lobbed a pass to send in Hyman on a breakaway.

Warren Foegele, 5. He lost a battle leading to an early Avs odd-man rush. Other than that he was fine, but he got little done on the attack.

Derek Ryan, 6. He made a number of strong plays on the attack, including a fine play to take a hit, then sending a cross-ice dart to RNH for the first of Edmonton’s Grade A shots.

Zack Cassian, 5. Quiet game, but nothing too bad.

Derick Brassard, 4. Nothing much to report in just over six minutes of ice time.

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Darnell Nurse, 3. He was having a rough game that got all the rougher when he got inured. He made an over-aggressive and bad decision on a pinch in the first, kicking off the Sequence of Pain on the Avs first goal. A moment later he tripped Burakovsky and got a penalty. He got picked slightly and allowed Nichushkin to move into the slot on his second goal. He left the game in the second period after a hard battle at the side of the net where he appeared to come out limping a bit. We will all hope this will amount to nothing much, as your top d-man going out at this time of year is bad, bad, bad news.

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Cody Ceci, 7. Another super solid game, something he’s becoming known for. He fought off Nichushkin in the crease when a loose puck was there to be scored late in the first. He kept a clean sheet, meaning not one major mistake on a Grade A shot at even strength the entire game.

Duncan Keith, 7. He’s playing well, reading the play at a high level and firing off deft passes. He was challenged on a rush down the wing by speedy Newhook early in the game, but stuck with him. His diagonal dart from him set up Kane’s second goal.

Evan Bouchard, 8. Really good in this one, with three major contributions to Grade A shots and a clean sheet in his own zone. He got a decent power play shot in the first, then followed up winning the puck, rushing it up ice and making a fine pass, showing class and calm early in the game. He ripped a puck on the net and batted in the rebound for Edmonton’s second goal. He made a key shot leading up to Kane’s second goal. He also stood up for Draisaitl, after the big German took a hard hit. He crosschecked MacKinnon into the boards, apologized for it, then had MacKinnon deflected one in off his leg, but the game was in garbage time by then.

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Kris Russell, 7. The under-rated Russell has still got the speed and the smarts to play well at this level, with his fast backtrack and clearance contributing to Bouchard’s goal and earning #6 an assist. I have allowed a diagonal dart leading to a 5-alarm MacKinnon shot. When Nurse got hurt he moved up to the top-pairing with Ceci. He made a long bomb of a shot into an empty net to ice the game.

Tyson Barry, 6. Quiet but solid game.

Brett Kulack, 4. Rancid first period, he settled down as things went along. He got beat on an early 2-on-1 leading to a dangerous shot by Helm. A moment later he blew a turn and fell down, causing an even more dangerous 2-on-1 for Logan O’Connor. He capped it off by jumping onto the ice early and taking a too-many-men penalty. But he snapped the puck up the boards kicking off the sequence for Kane’s hattie goal to earn an assist.

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Mike Smith, 7. Another good game. Stoned Helm and O’Connor on a 5-alarmers early in the game. He had zero chance on Colorado’s first goal, a cross-ice dart followed by a one-timer on a 3-on-1 break. Kadri’s shot got behind him late in the first, but Smith managed to find it and smother it. He might have done better on Nichushin’s second goal, which was on the outer edge of the Grade A shot zone, though it was indeed a well-placed shot. He made a big short-handed save on Burakovsky in the third, then roughed up Lehkonen in the crease. He made a fine point-blank stop on Newhook to choke out any final life from the Avs.

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