02-05-2025
Player grades: Edmonton Oilers beat Kings take series in a barn-burner
Article content
Connor McDavid, 6. Up and down first period. He made a weird fly-by in the o-zone on the first Los Angeles goal, kicking off the Sequence of Pain on the. goal rush. He made up for it a few moments later seaming a pass to RNH for Edmonton's second goal. He went low and hard on a 5-alarmer off a Draisaitl feed but Kuemper blocked. Turned over the puck in the o-zone, leading to a Trevor Moore breakaway. He deked his way to a dangerous slot backhander early in the third. Contributions/mistakes on Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +6/-4; Special Teams +1/-0
Leon Draisaitl, 7. Solid two-way game. Quiet in the first but got off a Grade A in the second before setting up McD for one. Later in the period he hammered a McD feed off the post. GAS: ES +7/-2; ST +0/-0.
Corey Perry, 6. Gave up nothing on defence. Some good work on the forecheck leading to Grade As. GAS: ES +3/-0; ST +0/-0.
Zach Hyman, 7. One goal, one assist. Lost a battle at the blueline on L.A.'s second goal. Made up for it a moment later winning and controlling a puck behind the net. Next he made a brilliant tip shot for the third goal, the Californian, an outside shot tipped in, named in honour of that great outside-inside combo Brent Burns-to-Joe Pavelski. Lost the puck and allowed a 4-on-3 and Grade A early in the third. He got his stick up and took a penalty in the third, came out and took Drai's pass for a breakaway attempt, then put it off the post on a 2-on-1. GAS: ES +6/-1; ST +1/-0
