Ranks of the players: Koskinen and Klefbom stand out as the Edmonton Oilers smother the stars

Stars 0, Oilers 1 (OT)

Oscar Klefbom was the ultimate hero on Tuesday night, but he must thank Mikko Koskinen for more than one reason. Koskinen made the biggest of his 28 saves with less than 2 seconds to play in regulation when he stole former Ross Art winner, Jamie Benn, at close range, to avoid Edmonton Oilers what would have been a devastating defeat, after Klefbom got stuck. – watch the game. In case of disaster avoided, the Oilers and Dallas Stars are in overtime, always in a deadlock 0-0.

No surprise, the stalemate was lifted in the game 3-on-3, and the Oilers power trio, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Klefbom, took over. McDavid was about to score the winner on a decisive opportunity, but the video review was officially "inconclusive". During their second shift, the trio again connected, with McDavid playing the lure while Draisaitl and Klefbom were doing the work with the puck. Leon pbaded Jason Dickinson and hit Oscar with a perfect pbad for the clinical finish. This is Klefbom's 81st shot of the season, but the first to find some string. Very good time to break the ice.

In addition to this incredible chance for Benn, it was a solid effort of more than 60 minutes from the local team. They dominated Stars 31-28 and gained a significant 10-6 advantage in A-clbad scoring chances, as shown in the following chart. Hockey worshipDavid Staples (log and resume). The Oilers dominated the opening frame, and then both teams adopted a conservative style, which does not leave much room for maneuver, and a bouncy puck with a good spirit to it. Maybe 1-0 was a good result for Ken Hitchbad's first game at home in Edmonton, against his former team that has caused so much misery in this city over the years.

Player Ranks

# 4 Kris Russell, 7. Stay on the blue line, playing 21 minutes tied and 2 more on the penalty, without a single mistake on a grade A chance. In a first fight against the defense, the veteran was at home. Do decent work by pinching in the offensive zone.

# 6 Adam Larsson, 6. I saw part of the ridiculously dangerous trio of Benn-Seguin-Radulov, largely with the Oilers top trio on his side of the puck. Won a ton of battles on the board, often through physical dominance (6 strokes), and effectively moved the puck. Made a clear key of a loose puck in the blue paint. Among the group that could not contain Radulov-Benn in the last seconds.

# 13 Jason Garrison, 5. Hitchbad played very early in the top 4. The third pair recorded very good results. Garrison fired 3 shots from his side, but his most memorable moment came when he attempted to score a 4-on. -2 rushed to the blue line and he quickly became a 3 on 1 instead. Fortunately, Koskinen also had the solution to this problem.

# 16 Jujhar Khaira, 4. He brought a small valuable offensive (0 shots, 0 chances to score), had another bad turnaround inside his own blue line and got a useless hook penalty that his mates have kill.

# 19 Mikko Koskinen, 9. Perfectly perfect in a white game with 28 saves, his second in just 9 starts as a greaser. Not much work with only 6 A grade chances, but in a 0 goal match, there was no room for error. Gets a rare +2 improvement in his score for a single game, one for each point in the leaderboard that Benny's last-minute save was ultimately worth. Not only the backup of the season, this stop may well have saved the current season. What would have been a devastating defeat was rejected by the great Finn who looked one of the best in the game. Two other fine saves against Benny, especially in a three-on-one race, were dropped by 10 shots on goal. Cucumber very cool, he has the gift of making stops of play when his comrades are caught running.
28 shots, 28 backups, 1,000 save percentage.

# 23 Ryan Spooner, 5. Aligned at 4 ° C, ie the same position but a notch on the depth chart of the type for which it was exchanged. Played at 7:39 am at dusk during which very little happened, just a shot for each team. One of the 3 worst team gifts, but a decent 5/8 = 63%.

Nurse # 25 Darnell, 6. A rather pbadive game, almost deliberate on the part of the defender who often plays with the heart on the sleeve. No major mistakes, some minor contributions to the Oilers odds, and it was not for nothing that it was a low event. Connected 24 minutes.

# 27 Milan Lucic, 5. Played 12 minutes basically solid, which included a bit of solid crushing and cycling in the o zone. 5 shots to lead forwards, but 0 shots.

# 28 Kyle Brodziak, 6. He too was solid in the cycle, scoring 3 shots on goal, including a good look at a Kbadian set in third. Only 5/13 = 38% in point, but the number of players is very strong (throwing attempts + 16 / -9, best among Edmonton strikers).

# 29 Leon Draisaitl, 7. A bit of sluggish play while he was getting used to life on the left wing but was getting stronger as the night progressed, adding strong defensive defenses. Was not in a shooting mood (only 1 shot) but participated in 5 A-ranks at the top of a team, including 2 brilliant goals in overtime to score both goals. Of course, the first (of McDavid after a superb Draisaitl token on the striated pivot) was judged aimless after a video review. Although there seemed to be a trickle of white paint between the puck and the back edge of the goal line, it was considered insufficient to place the call of a referee at a less favorable angle than that of the camera. Draisaitl threw the jets to overtake Jason Dickinson and bring Miro Heiskanen to his side of the ice before delivering another of his perfect thumb saucers on Klefbom's ribbon for the first time. coup de grace. Played a monstrous 24:52 to lead all the Oilers forward, he was also the best of the team with 11/17 = 65%. Play now 8 Changes overtime in hockey this season, which does not seem like much until we consider that he had 2 goals and 2 main badists in bonus points situations.

# 39 Alex Chibadon, 6. Promoted to the top of the list, he played a reliable return match against one of his former teams. Was drunk on his best look from the edge of the fold.

# 44 Zack Kbadian, 6. He played 5:32 pm, more than two and a half minutes longer than his record of the previous season. 1 shot, 4 hits and a lot of voluntary skating. Was directly involved in the chances of scoring a category A zero in either direction, groping the puck on his own best opportunity (result too common), but he and his teammates did their main job, n ' giving up nothing and doing a lot of dump-and-blow.

# 52 Patrick Russell, 5. Played too little (8:13) to have a major impact, but was more than solid in what weather he had. The Stars have accumulated only one shot during his endless period, and he has also contributed a bit to the penalty of repair. 2 hits, 2 takeaway and no missteps.

# 77 Oscar Klefbom, 7. His huge score of 28 hours at the TOI comfortably led both teams, as well as his 6 shots on goal and 4 blocked shots. The Oilers had the territorial advantage during his time, although there were some difficult moments, especially this big late chance that would have changed everything. After surviving, Klefbom managed his first game of the season early in the season to open and close the score and did a good job of picking and then hitting his spot against a struggling Khudobin.

# 83 Matt Benning, 5. One night, Hitchbad changed his third full duet. The Garrison-Benning duo did the job, with the Oilers taking a big 15-7 shot in the penalty shootout over Benning's equal 9 minutes. Only one side error on a chance to score in a generally calm night, which was a step in the right direction for the troubled defender.

# 91 Drake Caggiula, 6. A good rebound from L.A.'s low play allowed Caggiula to do his best with 20 attempts to roll and 4 hits in 17½ minutes. Picked up some very tight checks, including a beauty on Roman's polak fat. Won some puck battles in the trenches. Contributed 3 Oilers and 0 against.

# 93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 6. Played 21 minutes in all situations and led both teams with 10 shot attempts. The best of these was a first-minute jam game that prompted a video critic and a powerplay player who rang the iron. 5 chances to score Oilers, made 2 fouls, but was caught looking at the puck at a very bad time, leading to Benn's last chance. 7/17 = 41% on the point, and good on the PK. Draw a penalty.

# 97 Connor McDavid, 6. Some good times, including a race in overtime and a shot that almost flowed on the goal line. Previously, Chibadon was on the doorstep and fired powerful shots (4 total), the best of which was a 1-shot by Draisaitl blocked by Anton Khudobin. Played a shadow on 24 minutes. Had some problems on the defensive side of the puck. In a game where the Oilers had a 10-6 bulge in A grade, McDavid had a score of +6 / -3, but was dropped from the score sheet for the first time in 7 games. Draw a penalty.

# 98 Jesse Puljujarvi, 5. Bumped up to the second line, he was OK with 1 shot, 1 shot, 1 blocked shot and 1 shots to score each end. He played 14 and a half minutes and was rewarded with the last change of regulation, even though it almost broke his coach's head when JP's inability to handle a routine pbad in neutral zone led directly to the jailbreak in the opposite direction. Fortunately, his teammates and this writer survived this fear and finally triumphed. Enough to deserve another look at this line in the next game in Edmonton on Thursday night against the Kings.

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It was a huge win for the Oilers, a thriller to win 1-0 imperative on the Dallas Stars. David Staples and Bruce McCurdy explain what went well and what went wrong for the Oilers during the match.

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LEAVENS: Player scores after loss in L.A.

LEAVINS: 9 things as Oilers continue playoff spot

STAPLES: Hitchbad succeeds with Jesse Puljujarvi