Oilers Player Grades: Depth Steps Up In San Jose
Jeff Skinner celebrates his eventual game-winner. (Eakin Howard-Imagn Images)It took 75 games, but the Edmonton Oilers finally look like a fully constructed hockey team.
Considering they're currently dealing with a nasty injury bug and lost Leon Draisaitl again on Thursday night, that's pretty impressive. Beating the lowly San Jose Sharks 3-2 is nothing to write home about, but the way they did it says a lot about this team as they look towards the playoffs.
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Key Player Grades
Connor Brown: A
Who needs Connor McDavid when you have Connor Brown? The other Connor opened the scoring for the Oilers on Thursday with a frankly shocking burst of speed to split the Sharks' defenders and beat rookie netminder Georgi Romanov for his ninth goal of the season.
Brown's game wasn't all flash, either. He and linemate Mattias Janmark were dominant on Thursday, playing to respective 94% and 96% expected goals shares in one of their best games of the season.
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Viktor Arvidsson: B+
Arvidsson is heating up at the right time. He scored his first powerplay goal of the season in the second period, giving him goals in three straight games for the first time this season. He's scored six of his 13 goals since March 8th, a brief sign of the 25-goal player he's been in the past. The Oilers could use a whole lot more of that.
Jeff Skinner: A+
What a strange season for Jeff Skinner. Despite struggling to score and to stay in the lineup for much of the season, the veteran winger has emerged as one of the Oilers' top forwards since Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were injured.
He contributed two more points on Thursday, including the game-winning goal, and won 92% of the expected goals while he was on the ice. A fully operational Skinner and Arvidsson combo would make the Oilers a scary proposition in the playoffs.
Despite the win, the biggest outcome of Thursday's game has yet to be revealed. Leon Draisaitl left the game in the second period after a couple of hard falls and seemed to be limping down the tunnel to the dressing room as he left. Draisaitl made his return from injury less than a week ago against Calgary on Saturday.
With or without Draisaitl, the Oilers move on to one of their biggest games of the season this Saturday: a date with the Los Angeles Kings, who hold a two-point lead over the Oilers for home-ice advantage in their upcoming first-round matchup.
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