November 30, 2022 by Ryan Lotsberg

That game was more interesting than it needed to be. The Edmonton Oilers hold on to victory in Chicago. The Oilers almost allowed the Chicago Blackhawks to come back from three goals down in the third period, just like the Oilers did against the New York Rangers on Saturday. The Oilers escaped Chicago with a 5-4 victory in the end on Wednesday.

Call Outs:

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins chipped in with a goal and an assist, but he also had eight penalty minutes. No, eight is not a typo! He tripped Connor Murphy off the draw on an Oilers powerplay that lasted all of two seconds. Immediately after he left the box for that penalty, he took a slashing penalty on Jack Johnson. Finally, he got a double minor for high sticking Reece Johnson with 4:35 left in the game. Those were all untimely penalties. The first one negated a powerplay, the second one prevented the Oilers from gaining momentum from a four-on-four sequence where they controlled the play, and the third one put the Blackhawks on the powerplay for four minutes at the end of the game.

Standouts:

The only surprise in this section tonight is that this was Leon Draisaitl’s first multi-goal game of the season. He tapped in a back door feed from Darnell Nurse to open the scoring, and he got the eventual game winner by firing a one-timer home on a pass from the next standout in this game.

Connor McDavid was dominant in this one. He split two Chicago defenders on the right half wall and cut to the middle for a quality shot in traffic in the first period. McDavid hit the post on a wide open net in the second period, and he would hit another post later. He took the puck in his own end, skated around Jack Johnson like a pylon at the Blackhawks blue line, and wristed one past Alvin Soderblom to give the Oilers a two goal lead in the third period. He led the team with nine shots on goal. The assist on Draisaitl’s late goal was his 41st point of the season.

Shout Outs:

Zach Hyman was his usual noticeable self. Once again, he had a goal disallowed as the result of a subtle little push on Caleb Jones that knocked him into Soderblom. He hit the post on a spin-o-rama move in the slot, and he hit the post two more times in the game. Those posts weren’t included in his five shots on goal. He also did great work to beat Jason Dickinson to a loose puck that could’ve led to a breakaway in the third period.

Mattias Janmark scored his first goal as an Oiler on a two-on-one with Nugent-Hopkins. He added an assist on Nugent-Hopkins’s goal. It was good to see him get on the board this season, and it turned out to be an important goal.

Related: Call Outs, Standouts, and Shout Outs: Oilers Come Back Again in 4-3 Win Over Florida

Jesse Puljujarvi got the primary assist on Nugent-Hopkins’s goal. Janmark gave him the puck behind the net on the cycle. Nugent-Hopkins funneled to the net, and Puljujarvi gave him a perfectly timed backhand pass. That’s four assists in his last eight games. He got a great scoring chance shortly after the Janmark goal. He got the puck through Soderblom, but it went just wide. It feels like it’s starting to come for Puljujarvi. The big Finn made a big hit in his own zone to create a turnover. Evan Bouchard snatched the puck out of the pile and sent Nugent-Hopkins and Janmark in on a two-on-one. He didn’t get an assist on the goal, but Puljujarvi started that play with his physicality.

Stuart Skinner allowed three goals in the third period, but he made the big save when it mattered most. Patrick Kane got the puck behind the Oilers net and centered it to Taylor Raddysh. Skinner was in great position to make the save on Raddysh. That save came with 14 seconds left with the Oilers up by a goal. It preserved the win for the Oilers.

Darnell Nurse played in his 500th NHL game tonight. He marked the occasion with an assist after a beautiful cross seam pass to Draisaitl, who had an open net. He was +4 on the night with six shots in 29:09 of ice time. Nurse is a strong skater that defends well and that isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He plays big minutes and has proven that he can play in any situation. Here is how Nurse ranks in even strength points by defencemen in the NHL in the past six seasons:

2017-18: 34th

2018-19: 19th

2019-20: 18th

2020-21: 4th

2021-22: 45th

2022-23: 15th

Nurse has become one of the better scoring defencemen in the league at even strength. Whether you like the contract or not, he’s a legitimate top pairing defenceman. Congratulations to Nurse on playing in his 500th career NHL game.

The Oilers will be right back it tomorrow night, where they will take on the Minnesota Wild.