Player Ratings: Darnell Nurse Plays Dominant Game As Edmonton Oilers Crush Arizona Coyotes

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The Edmonton Oilers came out flat, but a solid goal from Mikko Koskinen and two lamp-lighting pulses from announced newcomers Warren Foegele and Zach Hyman gave them an edge they would never give up.

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In the third period, Edmonton’s incredible power play took over, scoring two goals twice. The power play is being cut to 50 percent.

The 5-1 victory was marked by Darnell Nurse’s dominant two-way play, including some crushing punches.

Grade A shots were Edmonton 10 and Arizona six. ( current account ).

Connor McDavid, 8 years old. Two goals and one assist, but some problems in defense. He and Keith allowed a low-high pass and a one-time Grade A shot in the first. He scored in the second in a dangerous burst into the slot after sweet 25 seconds of passes out of the zone with Draisaitl, Puljujarvi and Barrie. He gave up too much time and space in the pass of Coyotes’ first goal. He kicked off another good single-timer power play in the third. His pass from the left circle led to Hyman’s power play goal in the third, then he scored his own power player sniper from the left side with a great pass from RNH with an ice cross knife. McD now has 11 points from four games, and the strange thing is, he still hasn’t brought his best game to the ice.

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Jesse Puljujarvi, 6 years old. He opened the game with a wicked hint from an outside shot from the nurse, but then was slow on the back check when Arizona broke into his own Grade A opportunity.

Zach Hyman, 8 years old. Two goals. Savvy snipe on Edmonton’s second goal, hitting it with little rope; there’s a difference between shooting and scoring, as legendary Edmonton skills coach Jim Fleming likes to say. He scored his second, another power play, give me, after a tic-tac-toe pass, Barrie to McD to Barrie to RNH to McD to Draisaitl and Hyman on the fold.

Leon Draisitl, 6. It is not a bad game, but it is quite calm. His two kickoff wins kicked off the game-killing power play goals in the third.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7 years old. Three assists and now with six assists in four games. He lost Jay Beagle in the slot for a clear chance in the first, but Beagle missed the net on his backhand. Pass hard to send Hyman on his scoring getaway. Great pass to McD on his power play goal.

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Kailer Yamamoto, 6 years old . Good job at the PK. He kept his feet moving and took a penalty in the third.

Derek Ryan, age 6 . Another solid game. Eight wins and only four losses.

Warren Foegele, 7 years old. Beaty bull rush in the first, fighting for an Arizona d-man and cutting the puck on the net.

Zack Kassian, 5 years old. A good physical and positional game and a smart pass to the goal from Foegele.

Devin Shore, 5 years old. He and Keith were the culprits of a dangerous cross pass fired by Jacob Chychrun in the first. He set Turrris up for a tough grade B run in the third.

Kyle Turris, 6 years old. After an early flurry in the third, his line had a strong pre-control change to fix things. A few turns later they got a good shot off.

Brendan Perlini, 5 years old. Another quiet game. Time to set up Tyler Benson?

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Nurse Darnell, 8. He played a dominant game, 24:51 of near-perfect two-way hockey. You won about 90 percent of your battles, right? He was given credit for eight hits. He landed a solid takedown blow to Travis Boyd in the first. A few changes later, the 21st century version of the Edmonton express he smashed Chychrun against the ice. At the end of the first, he showed his Eddie Shore style again, blocked a shot, and then rushed onto the ice for a partial getaway. His hard and sharp charge on the ice helped create a 2v1 and Hyman’s meager goal.

Tyson Barrie, 5 years old. Two assists, but his defensive woes continued. Reduced the most important errors. He made a fumble and allowed a cross stitch on AZ’s first and only goal in the third. However, a solid quarterback works on the power play. He won a key puck battle on Edmonton’s first power play goal.

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Duncan Keith, 6 years old. He had another decent kind of game from Whitey Stapleton. He was beaten in the race by the $ 6 million man Loui Eriksson, who moved fast and performed a tricky backhand. But, once again, he made numerous solid plays with the puck.

Cody Ceci, 6 years old. Another good game. Got a grade A shot with Hyman’s total solar eclipse screen at the end of the second.

Evan Bouchard, 7 years old. He made a clever pass into his own zone to help McDavid and Hyman in a 2v1 opening period. Bouch’s rough grab of the puck then kicked off Foegele’s great career. Release with a wicked sharp-angled punch at the end of the second.

Slater Koekkoek, 5 years old. OK player OK game.

Mikko Koskinen, 7 years old . It didn’t cost him a lot of work but, more importantly, he handled everything when the game was closed. Solid stops at Chychrun and Ryan Dzingel at the first and Eriksson at the second.

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