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Ekholm, Draisaitl, Kane: maintenance men by day, difference makers by night
After two hours of continuous uproar, a comparative pall had descended upon Rogers Place. Through two periods Edmonton Oilers had played a strong game, done the right things, built a 2-0 lead. But those dastardly Vancouver Canucks amped up the pressure in the third, gotten a bounce to halve the deficit. Then they got another with under 2 minutes to play, their heroic netminder Arturs Silovs on the bench. From the Oilers’ perspective, a lost faceoff, a moment of indecision, a shot into heavy traffic, and bang, it was 2-2 and the whole building was in shock. In a heartbeat, anticipation morphed to apprehension. It was the key moment of the game. Of the entire series, it seemed like in that moment. So who best to right the Good Ship Oiler? The Maintenance Men, that’s who. I speak specifically of a trio of veterans who had missed the Game Day skate as a “maintenance day”, namely forwards Evander Kane, Leon Draisaitl and defender Mattias Ekholm. Their absence added to the fog of uncertainty that hung over Edmonton’s lines and pairings that were being heavily reworked by coach Kris Knoblauch. Truth is that Kane and Draisaitl in particular have been taking a lot of maintenance days throughout the playoffs, with Ekholm a relatively recent addition with what was reported in some quarters as an illness. All have been dealing with physical issues of some sort, though nothing that would stop any of them from playing that night, mind. Tony Brar of Oilers TV confirmed as much right after the skate: They weren’t just in, they were all in. And in Game 4’s biggest moment, all 3 men were on the ice and contributing to the build-up that resulted in Evan Bouchard’s game-winner with just 38 seconds left in regulation. Here’s the full sequence, courtesy our friends at Canucks Army. The accompanying commentary has a Vancouver viewpoint that can be ignored or enjoyed at the reader’s choice. The main thing here is the video itself. Kane starts the sequence by pursuing the shoot-in hot on the heels of Vancouver’s Filip Hronek, crunching the d-man with a hard bodycheck that served the double purpose of enlivening Rogers Place while also messing up the breakout. Linemate Dylan Holloway — playing in the 60th minute, mind — is next on the pursuit, creating chaos in the other corner. Under pressure, Canucks winger Brock Boeser tries an aerial pass out of the zone to teammate J.T.Miller. The puck never reaches him, because Draisaitl first knocks the pass down in mid-air, then Ekholm cleverly uses the outside edge of his skate blade to keep the disc in the zone and back towards Draisaitl. Possession finally established, the German takes the space available, carrying the puck across the top of the zone before feeding Kane along the side wall. Kane tries one centring pass to Holloway which doesn’t get through, recovers the disc and sends it back to Draisaitl who has taken position behind the Vancouver goal. Surveying the scene calmly, Leon picks out Bouchard moving into position in the high slot, backs up a smidge to open the passing lane, then beats both Nikita Zadorov and Miller with a perfect pass that finds Bouchard’s tape. The d-man then shuffles his own feet to open up a narrow shooting lane, then hits it with a wrist shot that whizzes through Boeser’s and Zadorov’s double screen and finds a hole in a screened Silovs. A lot of small subtle plays and decisions, ones that worked out well for the Oilers. From the visitors’ perspective, a series of small mistakes that proved costly indeed. Game: untied. Series: tied. While Kane’s booming hit was the sequence’s trigger, the highest skill moments — Draisaitl’s knockdown, Ekholm’s kick pass — facilitated the keep-in at the blueline, enabling the second phase of the cycle, this time with the Oilers in possession of the puck. This ice level view gives a better look, confirming (at least to this observer’s satisfaction) that despite claims to the contrary Draisaitl’s knockdown of the puck was legal; a call that in the final minute of play would be automatically reviewed by the league in any event. It also shows how the quick-thinking Ekholm made the best play available to him with the cheeky sidefoot back to Leon. A great reaction with a great result. While the biggest play of the entire game, the game winner represented the culmination of a full night’s work for the Maintenance Men who among them delivered 61 minutes of solid work despite the aches and pains. Draisaitl had scored the game’s first goal on the powerplay, after first drawing the penalty (by Miller). His was a complete performance in which he led the forwards in shots, shot attempts, hits, faceoffs taken and won. His late assist completed a two-point night, his eighth multi-point effort in 9 playoff games. (In the ninth, he had the primary assist on the game’s only goal in a 1-0 win at Los Angeles.) Ekholm had set up the second tally with a quick rush in the neutral zone and a clever pass he slipped through to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins while absorbing a heavy hit from Vancouver’s Noah Juulsen. Ek took one for the team there, with the result that RNH and Connor McDavid broke in 2-on-1 with an excellent outcome. The Swede led the team outright in shot attempts, 4 of them on goal, with 3 blocks at the other end and a couple of hits for good measure. His best moment might have been in the defensive crease, that time he outmuscled Vancouver’s Conor Garland and prevented the opportunistic forward from popping home a loose puck. Related Player grades: Evan Bouchard sprinkles his magic over Edmonton Oilers' 3-2 win over Vancouver Canucks Risky bet from Vancouver Canucks' Rick Tocchet in high-stakes game with Kris Knoblauch of Edmonton Oilers Kane was Kane, creating mayhem in various ways, not all of them good. He took a 4-minute penalty for high sticking in the first period to put his mates in a tough spot, even as they bailed him out brilliantly with an expert kill. He rang a shot off the post for the second straight game. He set up a great Darnell Nurse chance with a strong forecheck. He too landed 4 hits, a couple of them on big Zadorov and the key one on Hronek to begin the decisive sequence. Grading the game, colleague David Staples saw all three players in a favourable light, rewarding each with a grade of 8, Cult of Hockey code for a “great” game. Staples’ extensive comments on each flesh out a full night’s work for the trio. An impactful one, at that. So it is at playoff time in the NHL. Players might be banged up a little or they might be banged up a lot, but it’s a rare few who aren’t banged up at all. Some are too battered to go through the normal daily regimen, and instead take “maintenance” days to preserve their energy for the biggest games of the season. Somehow, when game time arrives, the best of them fight through whatever it is that ails them to deliver the goods. Follow me on X-Twitter @BruceMcCurdy
SOCIALS SAY: Potent posts from Oilers' 3-2 win over Canucks in Game 4
The Edmonton Oilers called upon backup goalie Calvin Pickard to stave off certain doom with his first NHL playoff start in net on the way to a hard-fought 3-2 win at Rogers Place on Tuesday. Combined with another game winner in the dying moments of the third period by Evan Bouchard, the Oilers evened the series 2-2 heading back to Vancouver for Game 5 on Thursday (8 p.m., Sportsnet, CBC). Here are some of the best — or worst — offerings from twitter.com during Game 4: We’ll start with an Arturs Silovs appreciation post heading into the Edmonton games from someone who knows a little bit about what he’s talking … uh, about. This one might stand as the post of the series. It comes from none other than former Canucks goalie Eddie Lack, a Swedish product who played for them 10 years ago. Hey, if this whole post-playing-career real-estate thing doesn’t end up working out, at least he’s got a bright future in comedy. While we’re at it, let the comparisons continue. Bouchard’s not just Johnny on the Spot in this series. He’s been Mr. Consistency throughout the playoffs. Of course, there is always a reminder to be found on twitter.com … All Oilers fans know there is another, darker side to the Bouchard coin. Perhaps that’s why they allow themselves to celebrate the good times he has on offence so much? In closing, I’m not going to utter the four-letter R-word that rhymes with Wyatt, but could it already be starting? Will history repeat itself over on the West Coast in these playoffs? E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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SIMMONS: Brilliant GM work by Bill Zito in Florida trumps everything Kyle Dubas did with Leafs
When Kyle Dubas was named general manager of the Maple Leafs some six years ago, he began his hockey journey fortunately with Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly already on a star-laden roster. You couldn’t ask for a better launching point for a young GM on the rise. When Bill Zito was hired as general manager of the Florida Panthers, without much applause, him being 21 years older than Dubas, he inherited a roster that included Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad and what seemed to be an overpaid goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky. The Panthers had missed the playoffs the year before Zito arrived. They were undoubtedly a work in progress for former player agent to solve. The first big move Dubas made in Toronto was the free-agent signing of John Tavares, so exciting at the time, and so strangling and numbing after COVID-19 hit and the salary cap froze, altering ability to be bold in his Maple Leafs maneuvering. Zito, who arrived on the job one year after Dubas and inherited less, wasn’t considered the next great anything. He began with a Panthers team in 19th place in the league and has had a near-sensational run with Florida winning the President’s Trophy in 2022 even after losing his coach, Joel Quenneville, to unofficial suspension. Dubas had five seasons to make the Maple Leafs better. Zito, in five seasons, has put on a managerial clinic that everyone in hockey has taken notice of. He has moved the Panthers from average to great, with bold creative deals and built a team that already has played for one Stanley Cup and likely will play for more under his supervision. The Panthers are on their way to a second Eastern Conference final in two years after winning a President’s Trophy the year before that with a different kind of team and a different coach. Zito was like one of those TV show renovators — he took an axe to a lot of the Panthers roster. Most GMs fall in love with first-place teams. Zito let coach Andrew Brunette walk, hired Paul Maurice and began the further dismantling of the roster. This after a 122-point season. In all, Zito has changed five of his six defencemen. He has changed 10 of his 12 starting forwards. He has altered backup goaltenders behind Bobrovsky, many of them playing a large role in the success of the Panthers. But the work done — in particular the trades and free-agent signings (none of which got the splash of a Tavares signing) has not won him a Jim Gregory Award of GM of the year, but if there was an award for GM of the past five years, he’d be the runaway winner Over a three-month period in 2021, Zito showed his moxie as a manager by making deals for right-shot defenceman Brandon Montour, for game-changing centre Sam Bennett and for scoring winger Sam Reinhart. He took advantage of the inexperienced GM in Buffalo, Kevyn Adams, getting Reinhart for goaltender Devon Levi and a first-round draft pick just after he plucked Montour for a third-round choice from Buffalo. What’s happened since then? Montour, the pending free agent, has been so good on the Florida bluefine that he gets Team Canada mentions for the 2026 Olympic team. So does Reinhart, who was second behind Matthews in goal scoring this year in Florida and also has his contract up at the end of the season. And all the whirling dervish Bennett has done is take Brad Marchand out of the second round of the playoffs, all but physically overwhelm the Maple Leafs last year and, in between, has provided the Panthers with a different kind of look with an unconventional second-line centre. That was 2021 for Zito. By comparison, that summer, Dubas signed David Kampf, Michael Bunting and Ondrej Kase as free agents. And almost all of the Panthers’ big moves came after Zito signed a relatively inexpensive free agent in one-time Leafs draft pick Carter Verhaeghe. All he has done is score at 31-goal pace for his four seasons in Florida. But the big move — the franchise-changing move — would come in the summer of 2022. The Panthers had finished first in the league with Brunette as interim coach and led by the explosive winger, Jonathan Huberdeau. There was something about the team — even with a record 122 points — that Zito didn’t buy. On July 22, 2022, he made a blockbuster deal with Brad Treliving, then of the Calgary Flames, to bring Matthew Tkachuk to South Florida. In the trade, which seemed relatively even at the time, he gave up Huberdeau and one of his top defencemen, MacKenzie Weegar. It hasn’t turned out to be even at all. Treliving was fired in Calgary. The Flames are now in rebuild form. And Tkachuk has become one of the NHL’s premier leaders in his two seasons in Florida. The deals for Bennett and Tkachuk do not look impressive on Treliving’s resume at a time he has been given the reigns to run the Leafs. Whether intentional or not, the moves Zito has made, one by one, has taken the Panthers to a new level. He picked up Gustav Forsling on waivers at the delayed start of the 2021 season. All Forsling did this season was lead the NHL in plus-minus at a rather startling plus-56. He will get some Norris Trophy votes. Makar scores 2 goals, Avs win Game 5 to stay alive in NHL playoffs Maple Leafs' prospect Easton Cowan caps OHL playoff ride with MVP honours Zito had to add to his defence of Ekblad and not much else and added near all-stars in Montour and Forsling and later signed veterans Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dmitri Kulikov for the back end at rather inexpensive prices. Dubas’ best signing on the blueline was bringing in the now-extinct T.J. Brodie. Since his large moves, Zito has done some roster finishing. He brought in Steven Lorentz, Eetu Luostarinen and Kevin Stenlund — all inexpensive depth forwards — before he swung big for rentals Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo at the trade deadline. And now, a possible shot at the Stanley Cup, brought to you by Bill Zito. The general manager whose name everyone should know. ssimmons@postmedia.com x.com/simmonssteve
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Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram named Masterson Memorial Trophy winner
NEW YORK — Arizona Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram has been named the winner of the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy. The award recognizes the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” It was presented by the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) to honour the late Bill Masterton. Calgary Flames defenceman Oliver Kylington and Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen were the other two finalists. Ingram posted a 23-21-3 record, 2.91 goals-against average, .907 save percentage and tied for a league-best six shutouts in 50 appearances for Arizona in 2023-24. Ingram almost retired due to an undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and lingering depression before he sought help through the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program in 2021. Claimed off waivers by Arizona in October 2022, Ingram appeared in 27 games for the club in 2022-23 before establishing himself as the Coyotes’ starting netminder this season.
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