First Period

• 19:12 – EDM – Of a scrambled offensive one draw in which all three forwards worked hard to win the puck, Eberle comes away with it and puts a good shot on net from point blank range. McDavid picks up the rebound and puts it off the side of the net. The McDavid line and the Davidson/Gryba pairing hold the zone for a long time.
• 15:22 – MTL – Lars Eller gets a shot from the slot after a series of breakdowns. Eberle made a bad defensive zone turnover which the Oilers recovered from, but then McDavid lost a puck battle in the neutral zone a moment later. Montreal counterattacked, and Nurse made the decision to hold the blue line, leaving Eller to Pouliot; Pouliot tried to block the pass rather than staying with his man.
• 12:33 – MTL 1-0 goal (PP) – With Gryba in the box, the Canadiens capitalize on the power play. Nurse did a good job forcing a dump-in, and Schultz retrieved it but then turned it over on his clearing attempt. Korpikoski and Pakarinen got crossed up by puck and player movement at the point, leaving a ton of space for a Tomas Plekanec point shot. Nurse wasn’t able to push Brendan Gallagher out of the way; he provided the screen and may have tipped the puck.
• 11:48 – EDM – Eberle won the puck in the offensive zone, then had another point blank chance. McDavid made the initial zone entry before losing the puck inside Montreal’s end. Eberle had previously exited the zone. Edmonton got control of the puck after Pouliot forced the Canadiens to toss the puck away in the Oilers zone, at which point Nurse retrieved it. Eberle drew a penalty on the play.
• 10:36 – MTL – Schultz made his second terrible turnover in the span of about 10 seconds, this one almost unforced, and Montreal took the puck shorthanded up ice. Letestu looked like a pylon as he tried to play the defenceman role and Talbot was forced to make a good stop on Tomas Plekanec.

• 7:32 – EDM (PP) – With Edmonton on the power play courtesy of Eberle, Hall blasts a one-timer from the top of the circle that Ben Scrivens just gets a piece of. It’s the culmination of two quick passes from first Nail Yakupov and then Justin Schultz.
• 5:28 – MTL – Letestu can’t control the puck offensively, resulting in a loss of possession. Sekera is aggressive along the boards and Yakupov loses his man leading to a two-on-one against. Fayne goes down and prevents the pass and nearly blocks the shot, but not quite.
• 3:59 – EDM – Sekera forces a neutral zone turnover with a good defensive play, allowing Hall to gain the zone with the puck. He quickly passes to Draisaitl who just as quickly relays to Purcell for a decent chance.
• 3:49 – MTL 2-0 goal – Montreal is on a 4-on-2 rush as both Draisaitl is knocked over and trapped after that Oilers chance and Hall makes absolutely no effort on the backcheck. Purcell gets back but overcommits to the puck carrier, reinforcing Sekera and creating a 2-on-2 on one side of the ice. Montreal’s puck-carrier passes over, leaving Fayne in no-man’s land trying to defend a 2-on-1 with both his charges; he gets in front of the shooter but can’t prevent the shot and ends up screening the goal against. Draisaitl has an excuse, but Hall’s lack of effort getting back was inexcusable and Purcell exacerbated it with a bad decision.
• 2:05 – EDM – Sekera one-times the puck for a good chance off a nice McDavid setup. Eberle made the initial steal in the offensive zone.
• 1:21 – MTL – Draisaitl loses the offensive zone faceoff. He then gets beat out of the corner by Sven Andrighetto, who tries to jam the puck in on the short side. He takes a penalty in front of the net a moment later.

Second Period

• 17:54 – EDM – Gryba knocks his man over in the defensive zone, creating a turnover. Purcell outlets to Hall, who rushes up ice. Hall and Draisaitl give-and-go, and then Hall puts the puck to the front of the net where a pinching Davidson gets a great look.

• 12:16 – EDM (PP) – With Edmonton on the power play courtesy of Gryba, Purcell exits the defensive zone, passes off to Hall and then gets the puck back. He sets up Draisaitl for a great look from right in front of Ben Scrivens.
• 11:56 – MTL (SH) – Schultz whiffs on a puck, leading to a great shorthanded chance.

• 9:42 – MTL – Letestu can’t connect with Kassian on his pass, and Montreal intercepts. Letestu lifts the stick of his man on Tom Gilbert’s wring-around, but Yakupov can’t get to the point in time to take the Canadiens’ second skater. Kassian is out of position, leaving Nurse facing a two-on-one; Nurse isn’t able to block the pass and Max Pacioretty gets a good shot.
• 9:03 – MTL – McDavid loses a defensive zone faceoff. Montreal has possession for a while and McDavid intercepts a pass but promptly loses the puck. He’s just a little too far away from his man, who takes a pass out of the corner and gets a good shot.
• 8:12 – 3-0 MTL goal – Davidson has control of the puck and turns it over as he attempts to make a long pass out of the defensive zone. Tomas Plekanec charges into the zone and the puck carrier just tosses the puck toward Brendan Gallagher crashing the net; it bounces in off Davidson’s skate.
• 1:58 – 4-0 MTL goal – Nurse got his stick on the puck but couldn’t handle the pass out of the corner from McDavid in the offensive zone; he was trapped (along with Pouliot, who was hanging out at the side of the net) leaving Davidson and Eberle to fend off four Montreal skaters. Davidson can’t prevent the cross-ice pass and Eberle ends up trapped in no-man’s land.

• 1:03 – MTL – an uncharacteristic defensive zone turnover by Hendricks leaves the Oilers exposed. Fayne comes off the bench but can’t cover both potential Montreal shooters; he takes the man on the inside and the puck goes to the guy on the outside.

Third Period

• 18:09 – 1-4 EDM goal (SH)– Davidson helps force a turnover in Edmonton’ end. Pouliot gets the puck in the defensive zone and plays it to Purcell to start an Oilers’ rush. Purcell gets it back to Pouliot, who beats Jeff Petry one-on-one and then puts a nice backhand shot top corner.
• 17:18 – MTL – McDavid turns the puck over in the defensive zone, leading to a shot from just outside the chance area which is redirected at point blank range.
• 13:11 – MTL – Sekera gets trapped up-ice, leaving Fayne defending a two-on-one. Fayne takes the passing lane, but the initial shot gets through and creates a rebound, which isn’t put on net by Montreal.
• 10:31 – MTL – Schultz makes a pass toward a covered Letestu, and then Letestu loses the battle. Montreal gets a decent shot from the slot out of it.
• 10:01 – 5-1 MTL goal – Fayne and Letestu lose a battle in the corner, leading to a long Montreal possession. Tom Giblert pinches in from the point and Kassian does a terrible job of covering as he does; he tries to waterski as Gilbert goes through the slot and then when that fails he’s all alone in front to knock the puck past Nilsson.

• 2:46 – EDM – Nurse lines up a Canadien attempting to exit the zone, allowing Hendricks to take the puck. Hendricks passes off to Korpikoski, who rushes the net and fires a backhand shot.
• 1:00 – MTL – Nurse can’t prevent a shot in a one-on-one situation.

Final Thoughts

RECENTLY BY JONATHAN WILLIS

• Oilers waive Luke Gazdic
• How McLellan keeps lousy faceoff guys from hurting the team
• McDavid is “ready to go”
• Can Anton Lander save his NHL career?
• Iiro Pakarinen has earned his job in Edmonton
• Follow Jonathan Willis on Twitter