Player grades: Bouchard and McDavid bomb away, Edmonton Oilers 6-2 over Winnipeg Jets

Connor McDavid came out shooting, Evan Bouchard bombing away, and Oilers forwards crashing the net, leading to a 6-2 win over the Jets of Winnipeg.

The Grade A shots were 17 to 9 (go in about 22% of the time on average) for Edmonton with the subset of 5-alarmers (33% on average) 9 to 2 for the Oilers.

Connor McDavid, 8. Two assists. He came out shooting and it paid off. Two early Grade As, the second of which was rebounded to RNH for the 1-0 goal. Next he led his line on a flurry of four Grade A shots in 14 seconds, two by McD himself, then drew a penalty. Part of the great passing on the 5-0 goal. Grade A shots plus-minus: Even Strength (EV): +8, -0; Special Teams (ST): +1, -0

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 8. Went to the net and jumped on McDavid’s shot to score the first goal. Almost scored again a moment later again going hard to the net. Excellent keep in to kick off the virtuous cycle leading to Bouchard’s 4-0 goal in the first. He zinged one of the post early in the second. Grade A +/-: EV +7, -1; ST +1, -0

Zach Hyman, 8. Solid passes under pressure early on, one a key part of the 1-0 goal. Great screen on edge of the crease on Edmonton’s 4-0 goal. Grade A +/-: EV +7, -0; ST +1, -0

Leon Draisaitl 8. One goal, one assist. He took Bouch’s stretch and broke in alone, hammering a backhand shot as much as one can be hammered to make it 2-zip. He faked out the goalie by passing up a shot to set up Bouchard on the 4-0 goal. Grade A +/-: EV +5, -1; ST +1, -0

Matt Savoie, 7. Like RNH he went to the net in the first, and like he won the battle and jammed in the 3-zip goal. Grade A +/-: EV +2, -1; ST +0, -0

Vasily Podkolzin, 6. Threw a cruncher of a hit on Perfetti early on. He broke in to take a great Drai pass for a Grade A shot. Grade A +/-: EV +4, -0; ST +0, -0

Adam Henrique, 5. Quiet in a loud game, but that works too. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -0; ST +0, -0

Mattias Janmark, 6. Swell pass on the goal rush to set up Lazar on the 5-0. Grade A +/-: EV +1, -1; ST +0, -0

Andrew Mangiapane, 6. Created space on the 5-0 goal. Grade A +/-: EV +1, -1; ST +0, -0

Trent Frederic, 7. Best game in some time. Won a board battle then charged up ice to slam a 5-alarm slotter on net off a Lazar pass. He left his check on the 5-1 goal against, but great forecheck and pass on the 6-1 goal by Tomasek. Grade A +/-: EV +3, -2; ST +0, -0

David Tomasek, 7. He made a stretch pass to kick off Frederic’s 5-alarm rush in the second.  Great snipe on the 6-1 goal. Grade A +/-: EV +3, -0; ST +0, -0

Curtis Lazar, 7. He made no mistake, slamming in a slotter for the 5-0 goal. Part of the solid forecheck on the 6-1 goal. Grade A +/-: EV +4, -0; ST +0, -0

Mattias Ekholm, 7. Quiet but good. Got the puck on net for Savoie to rebound in on the 3-0 goal. He broke his stick to kick off the sequence of pain on the 5-1 goal against. Got beat on the 6-2 goal against wrap-around play. Grade A +/-: EV +1, -2; ST +0, -0

Evan Bouchard, 8. Team Canada-quality tonight. Key player on three first period goals. The mad bomber was up to his best work. Fantastic stretch pass to kick off the goal rush on Edmonton’s 2-0 Draisaitl breakaway. Bombed another stretch a moment later to start the goal rush on Savoie’s 3-0 goal. He then unleashed his arsenal with a bomb on net, scoring the 4-0 goal with a quantum speed slapper.  He coughed up a slot turnover in garbage time that Connor put off the post, then got beat on the deke as Winnipeg scored the 5-1 goal. He got tripped up by a Jets fowards on the 6-2 goal against. Grade A +/-: EV +3, -2; ST +0, -1

Darnell Nurse, 8. Crushing it just now. Another Tower of Power performance, at least when it counted. Strong first period on the attack, in middle of a few Grade A sequences. A few mistakes in garbage time. Grade A +/-: EV +6, -2; ST +0, -0

Alec Regula, 8. Best game as an Oiler. Solid block on an early Toews shot. Sharp passes led to a few Grade As. He let in Namestnikov for a 5-alarmer in garbage time. Grade A +/-: EV +5, -2; ST +0, -0

Brett Kulak, 8. His cross-ice pass ignited the goal rush on Edmonton’s 1-0 score. Got another goal rush going with a fine dz-pass on the 5-0 goal. Grade A +/-: EV +3, -0; ST +0, -0

Ty Emberson, 6. He made a pass and drove to open space on the 5-0. Grade A +/-: EV +0, -1; ST +0, -0

Stuart Skinner, 6. Guiet night, but he mostly got it done on whatever came his way, at least on whatever was on-side, eh. Stopped an early seam slotter by Scheifele. The next Grade A came half-way through the second, Barron’s wrap-around back-hander. No chance on Vilardi’s 5-1 goal. Great save on Namestnikov’s break-in shot a moment later, then on Scheifele in close. Out of position and beat on the wrap-around on the 6-2 but a weird goal against due to a lofted puck and jump ball situation in the slot.