Taken By Chance – Leon Draisaitl (33.44 SCF% // 0 HDCF%) did not register a high danger chance and saw five against. He was one of the hardest-working forwards on the ice all night, keeping pressure on the Canucks. When you play against the top competition of a team that is desperate and playing for their lives, you do what you can to counter the adrenaline-fueled attack. For what it’s worth, in my book, I felt Leon Draisaitl did a damn fine job – he kept getting zone exits but settled for pucks in deep rather than risking any turnovers into an odd-man rush. A commitment to the team game. That’s some real leadership there. Cody Ceci (39.54 percent // 32.36 percent) once again saw a surprisingly higher number than anybody else on the roster in terms of high-danger looks. Scoring a goal is a good way to counter that though.

xG Breakdown

xGF% – Evan Bouchard (70.06 percent) is starting to get the love he deserves on a national scale. He is already one of the best puck movers in the offensive zone and has a knack for finding forwards with enough space to create. Does it help that he has Connor McDavid (65.39 percent) to make his numbers better? Sure – but if it were that easy anybody could do it. Let’s never forget he’s free to be that offensive aid because Mattias Ekholm (68.28 percent) plays the two-way game on defence at an elite level. Not enough credit will ever be given Ekholm’s way for how significant he is to this team and its success. Let’s not forget Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (57.97 percent) with a solid game to end the series. He ended up being the finisher the Oilers needed in two crucial survival games – not everyone has it in them to score big stage goals, Nugent-Hopkins has that dawg in him.

Game Flow

Game Score

Shot Heatmap

In The Crease – I’m not going to say the Garland goal was a good one to let in – from that distance with no screen you want your goaltender to have that. Then the Canucks get a good bounce goal and the final five minutes of the game take on a whole new flavour. Skinner didn’t completely collapse, and the Oilers picked up their defending to help him out. It sure felt like the Canucks were one shot away from sending this to overtime, but in the end, you have to give him credit for being the guy to hang in there and get the job done.

Flashalytic’s 3 Stars – 

1) Evan Bouchard

2) Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

3) Zach Hyman

(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)