Player record: Misfortune to joy as Bouchard, Holloway and Edmonton Oilers beat New York Rangers

tomtidgewellNovember 26, 2022

Evan Bouchard and Dylan Holloway have had no shortage of criticism this year, but they’ve been the center of attention as Edmonton kicked off a stunning four-goal third-period comeback against the New York Rangers.

The Oilers won’t make a more exciting comeback, at least not in the regular season. So I hope this gives you a taste of what’s to come, especially for Bouchard and Holloway.

Bouchard fired two rockets and Holloway twice screened the goalkeeper in Bouchard’s goal and fired his own Lister to tie the game 3–3.

Young players have made it that far, with Leon Dreisitl scoring the winner for the 4-3 Oilers.

The Oilers failed to score on Grade A shots early in the game and were unable to benefit after the Rangers called back two goals. When the Rangers trailed him by three goals after two periods, they finally found themselves in a long streak of pain.

But then Young Guns came back to life.

In total, the Grade A shots were a subset of five warning shots: 10 Rangers, 9 Oilers, 8 New York, and 6 Edmonton. (running count).

Connor McDavid, 6 years old. It wasn’t his best game, it wasn’t close, but he went big in clutch. He’s been trying to get oil into the fight for weeks, but not today. He couldn’t improve it with his Draisaitl for most of the game. But his quick feet and excellent short pass were the keys to Dry Saitle’s victory. He also won 10 face-offs and lost just 2.

Leon Drysitel, 7 years old. I didn’t have a lot of jumps, but I made some great passes early on. He found Purjujärvi on a drop pass early in the second and McD on the slot after the shift, but failed to score either. Second I called him cheap when I got penalized for a slash like you see on almost every shift. He hit the crossbar in the third period wraparound. He fired at the winner, winning the puck battle at netside and improving his record by two points.

Jesse Purjujärvi, 7 years old. He won the fight every game. He hit the net with a wicked slot shot early in the game, but he hit the post. Hockey Gords didn’t help JP or Oil just then. At the beginning of the second, I couldn’t score with a wide open expression. He quickly rushed to pop the puck, leading to a dangerous McD shot. He made a great pass to set up Bouchard’s first goal. He also won the fight to help set the tip of the dangerous Nugent Hopkins, who created a critical dhis zone his clearance late in the game.

Ryan Nugent Hopkins, 5 years old. In the third, a hard play in front of the net almost scored, and they failed to make an impact until Ryan Lindgren was injured in a collision. He made his pass to Beauty and set the winning goal for Drai.

Zach Hyman, 4 years old. Not his best game. He allowed an outside shot on the Rangers’ second goal which was disallowed. He missed the net with three risky slots his chances, including his McD’s great setup in the late game.

Matthias Jeanmarck, 5. He was too quiet, but fought lively in the third round and entered the game.

Ryan McLeod, 6 years old. He decked and charged the puck and set up Vogel in the second half, but no goals. He was part of Bouchard’s virtuous circle of goals, feeding Purjujärvi in the slot and then passing to Bouchard.

Warren Vogel, 8 years old. Best oil forward. He lost the board battle leading up to the Rangers’ first goal. He drew a penalty early in his third. In turn, he won the puck battle and set up Bouchard’s second goal. Unfortunately, he left the game after crashing into his third. Overall, he had 10 of his shots at the net, 4 of which hit the target.

Crim Costin, 3. He was unable to stop Adam Fox in his first goal for the Rangers. It wasn’t his best game as he played his 6:29.

Brad Malone, 4. He got the puck behind the net and landed a nasty slot shot on Holloway. His missed shot started the Sequence of Pain with the Rangers’ third goal.

Dylan Holloway, 8 years old. Best game of his young NHL career. He made a solid horizontal pass that led to a hard barry shot early in the second. Malone’s slot he failed to score on a pass and went wide off the puck. He was part of the upset in front of his net with his third goal for the Rangers. But his moving screen was critical to Bouchard’s goals. He set a fine screen for his second goal for Bouchard. Then came his first NHL goal, snapped by the NHL’s best goalie on the outside list.

Derek Ryan, 4 years old. Like Holloway, part of a failed Oil effort with the Rangers’ third goal.

Darnell Nurse, 6 years old. He played a team-best 25:57. A high event game won’t be his first time for Nurse, and it won’t be his last. He gave up his front in the net on his NY Powerplay 5-Alarm early on by Zibanejad, then lost the fight to Crider for another of his 5-Alarms. His excellent backhand his pass sent him to McD, Drai and JP in a dangerous rush early in the second. He did an excellent poke check and stopped the driving brace without taking a penalty. A few solid plays follow in stride.

Cody Cesi, 4. There was solid defense in the game, but his unforced turnover started the Sequence of Pain and led to Rangers’ second goal. It was a serious mistake that lowered his grade by two points.

Tyson Barry, 5 years old. Barry has been solid this year, so getting him back into the crack was urgent. Clack struggled, but he had success with Barry last season. He worked the puck well all game. However, he failed to keep the puck on the board and ended up allowing his 2–1 rush on his third goal for the Rangers.

Brett Clack, 5 years old. He rushed first and harpooned Hyman, but Hyman missed the net. All in all, he had his head above the water.

Evan Bouchard, 7 years old. He made his own mini comeback in this game. He allowed a horizontal pass into a deep slot on his first goal. Moments later, he fired another rocket from the point his area. By the way, Oilers great Paul Coffey gave Bouchard some great advice in an interview during the period. “You have to do what you do best. Evan is a great player when he has the puck, when his legs are moving, when he’s putting shots into the net.” Do you want Saitl to like you? Put the puck on your stick and stop arranging the puck around the board when the two of you are on the ice.”

Philip Broberg, 3. Welcome back, boy! In his NHL shift of the season, Broberg muscled in the slot and allowed a gimme putt on goal from the crease. But the coach stuck with the player. He was thrashed in front of the net, hitting the wing for Rangers’ second disallowed goal. He played just 10:22. He had a hard time, but he survived it. To the next game of young players.

Jack Campbell, 5 years old. he triumphed. This is his one of the goalkeeper jobs. We had some good saves but struggled and gave up too many rebounds throughout the game. was defeated by Panarin, only to be saved by He saved Panarin’s harpoon big at the end of the first. He spilled a pretty bad rebound early in the top of the second, but Kakko missed the net. He was interfered with in what appeared to be another Rangers goal in the second. His luck with an overturned goal ended when the puck deflected away from him in the second half. He didn’t score his third goal for the Rangers, but made a spectacular early save in this particular Sequence of Pain. He made a big save on Vince Trochek’s Grade A shot in the closing minutes of the game.