By: Tom Calautti | @TCalauttis
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Edmonton Oilers faced off against the Boston Bruins for the first of two meetings in the month of December. Despite Boston’s best efforts, they couldn’t contain the best player in the world as Edmonton skated off with a 3-1 victory Here’s how it all went down:
Power-Plays Open the Scoring
The opening frame of this contest was a sloppy affair, with both teams seemingly feeling each other out before truly getting into the flow of the game. By the time the horn sounded, shot attempts were shots were 7-5, scoring chances were 5-2, and high-danger chances were limited to a minisule 3-0 (all in favor of Boston).
With both teams unable to to gain traction at even strength, the period seemed to be destined for a deadlock. Then at 13:08 of the first, Mark Kastelic tripped old friend Trent Frederic and Edmonton’s top-ranked power-play took to the ice. It wasn’t long before Connor McDavid worked his magic and found Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for a back-door tap-in to give the Oilers the lead.
That advantage lasted less than three minutes after Marat Khusnutdinov drew a tripping penalty on Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. On the ensuing power-play, Elias Lindholm gained the offensive blueline and beautifully threaded a pass to a streaking Pavel Zacha who roofed a backhand over goaltender Tristan Jarry’s left shoulder for his ninth goal of the season.
McDavid Takes Over
The ssecond period was another back-and-forth affair. Neither team had a significant amount of grade-A scoring chances and much of the play was limited to the perimeter. A solid defensive effort by the Bruins was squandered by one small blemish late in the period when former BU Terrier Quinn Hutson buried a loose puck to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead.
“We made one little mistake that cost us one goal,” said head coach Marco Sturm of the hughes tally. “Overall it’s just a little bit frustrating because guys were into the game, guys were sharp, but the little ‘pop’ was missing.”
The Bruins were able to grab some momentum back when Jarry suffered an apparent injury late in the second. Edmonton was forced to insert backup Calvin Pickard and it looked like the Black and Gold got the spark they needed. They controlled play for the remainder of the second and even drew a penalty just 30 seconds into the third. Unfortunately for them, McDavid had other plans for this game.
After a broken play from David Pastrnak fluttered just over the cage on one end, Nugent Hopkins picked up a loose puck along the boards and sprung McDavid who zipped past McAvoy and beat Jeremy Swayman for a two-goal lead.
“We know how good he is,” said Sturm of McDavid. “Doesn’t matter if it’s five-on-five, five-on-four, or four-on-five, you just always have to be aware.”
Bruins Positive About Five-On-Five Game
Despite the Oilers edging out a victory, the Bruins were satisfied with their overall performance in last night’s game. Accoring to Natural Stat Trick, Boston out-attempted Edmonton 41-32, outshot them 18-15, and outchanced them 17-14. McDavid and Draisaitl had a combined zero points and one shot on goal during their even strength time on ice.
“It was a good five-on-five game,” said Swayman following the loss. “(The Bruins) kept it tight and I think if we keep a team like that under 30 shots we’re going to have a good chance to win a lot of those games.”
All-in-all the Bruins did a great job of limiting the time and space of two of the best players in the world. Unfortuantely for them the scoring punch just wasn’t there and they weren’t able to overcome Edmonton’s late-second push to regain the lead.
The details cost the Black and Gold in this one, but Sturm’s positive spin on the outcome should give fans a glimmer of hope for this team’s future.
“That’s frustrating but I also kind of like (this kind of game),” said Boston’s bench boss with a smirk. “Because that shows me we just have to find a way to play those kinds of games too. And today was the first time we…played a team like that, with two really good players like that, and we did a good job but we’re just not quite there yet.”
Boston’s homestand will continue on Saturday when the now Quinn Hughes-less Vancouver Canucks come to TD Garden for their first and only appearance of the season.
Game Notes
- With a secondary assist on Zacha’s goal, Charlie McAvoy is now up to 16 points in 23 games. That’s a pace of .7 points per game, which, if held up, would be the highest total of the defenseman’s career.
- Swayman faced 25 shots in tonight’s contest. Opponents have now registered 25 shots or more against him in 18 of his 23 starts.
- With the primary assist on Zacha’s goal, Elias Lindholm is up to 5-17-22 in 25 games. Since returning from injury on November 23rd he has 1-12-13 in 12 games.
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