December 7, 2022 by Ryan Lotsberg

Zack Kassian was certainly hoping for a better outcome in his return to Rogers Place. The former Oiler received a nice video tribute, but he also received a cut to the nose after a fight with Klim Kostin late third period, as the Edmonton Oilers cruised to an 8-2 win on Wednesday.

The Arizona Coyotes will surely be excited to head back to desert after playing the last of their record setting 14-game road trip. The Oilers were the benefactors of an exhausted Coyotes team that is below average on their best day.

Call Outs:

It wasn’t a perfect game, but I’ll choose to give the boys a break after a blowout victory where they only allowed 18 shots on goal.

Standouts:

The first-half of the game belonged to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The four-time 20-goal scorer opened the scoring on a powerplay goal where he looked off Leon Draisaitl and chose to just score the goal himself. Nugent-Hopkins was in the right place at the right time for his second goal. Kailer Yamamoto created a turnover at the Coyotes blue line, and Nugent-Hopkins buried it on the partial breakaway. He added an assist as well.

Connor McDavid stole the show late in the game. He scored a sneaky wrap-around goal in the third period to put the Oilers up 7-1, and then blasted a one-timer that snuck through Connor Ingram and dribbled across the line to give McDavid his league-leading 24th goal of the season and second of the night. The Oilers captain added two assists for his second four point night in his last three outings.

Shout Outs:

Draisaitl made a couple of great plays in this game. He scored a powerplay goal, and he made a sublime backhand pass to McDavid to set up McDavid’s wrap-around goal. A fantastic effort that will be lost in the shadows of his peers on a big night for the team.

Klim Kostin completed the Gordie Howe hat trick when he dropped the gloves with Zack Kassian, who made his return to Rogers Place after being traded this summer. Kostin deftly played a puck through a defender to Derek Ryan, who finished the partial breakaway with a beautiful deke.

The former first-round pick ripped a turn-around wrist shot past Ingram for his second goal of the season. Kostin has a cannon of a wrist shot! I feel that he would score a bushel of goals if he could make his release a little bit quicker. Kostin has been a physical presence that goes to the dirty areas and  isn’t afraid to shoot. He’s on his way to earning a permanent spot in the bottom six.

Ryan made a welcome appearance on the scoresheet with a slick deke goal and an assist on Kostin’s goal.

Yamamoto did great work to get his two assists. He created the turnover that led to the 4-1 goal, and he collected a loose puck in the corner before playing it to the slot for Brett Kulak to bury. He was in the fight tonight, which was a sight for sore eyes.

Related: Call Outs, Stand Outs, and Shout Outs: Oilers Send Habs Fans Home Sad After 5-3 Win

Tyson Barrie got two assists and was involved in all sorts of chances, especially early in the game. He continued his strong play this season.

Dylan Holloway got an assist on Kulak’s goal. He deserved at least a point tonight. The play was flowing through him on his line with Jesse Puljujarvi and James Hamblin. He drove wide and took the puck hard to the net on two different occasions. This was the most confidence he’s shown since the preseason, which was great to see.

Evan Bouchard was benched for the last half of the third period on Monday against Washington. He was held off the scoresheet, but he got two great scoring chances in the first period. I saw one play where he was caught behind the net without a man while Lawson Crouse got a great scoring chance in the slot, but otherwise played a solid game. His underlying numbers were fantastic:

CF: 76.19% (16-5)

SF: 63.64% (7-4)

xGF: 69%

SCF: 84.62% (11-2)

This was a good response game from Bouchard after being benched last game. Young players get benched. Veterans get benched sometimes too. It happens! It was a small bump in the road on Bouchard’s development path.

The Oilers can’t celebrate this big win for long because they get the Minnesota Wild, their arch nemesis, on Friday and Monday nights.