The Edmonton Oilers played their best game of the year, with role players such as Trent Frederic, Alex Formenton, Owen Michaels, Ike Howard and Josh Samanski leading the way. Each of them played their best game of the year as well.

Edmonton put up a defensive wall in front of Tristan Jarry, limiting San Jose to mainly high slot shots.

The Grade A shots in the game were 17-to-7 for Edmonton, with the subset of most dangerous five-alarm shots 12-to-1 for the Oilers. Here is the running count.

Vasily Podkolzin, 8. Another great game from Podzilla. Hustled hard and helped create all kinds of o-zone time in the first two periods, but little in the way of Grade A shots. He out-battled Darnell Nurse at the side of the net to pound a five-alarm rebound shot on net early in the third, then set up a Kapanen slotter. He ripped a harpoon into the back of the great white net off of a McD drop pass to make it 2-0. He got nailed for a super iffy stick-check penalty in the third.

Connor McDavid, 8. He came alive in the third period, chipping in on two goals. He was in on 11 Grade A shots in total. His line did some good work on the forecheck in the first two periods. He drove in fast, then dropped the puck back to Podkolzin for Edmonton’s 2-0 goal. He popped the puck to help kick off the 3-0 goal rush. He went hard to the net and almost scored on a late third PP. He must have hit a patch of Kryptonite in the third when he missed an open look on an empty net.

Leon Draisaitl, 7. Relatively quiet game for Drai but still in on eight Grade A shots. He took a sneaky late hit from Sherwood early in the third to draw a penalty. Punched a rebound slotter on net in the subsequent PP goal mouth scramble. Got a PP backhander on net later in the third.

Jason Dickinson, 5. Quiet game, but kept out of trouble.

Kasperi Kapanen, 6. Good on the PP. He helped win a PP faceoff early in the third, leading to multiple Grade A shots, one of them his own. He put McD’s pass off the post in a late third period PP.

Filip Hallander, 5. I liked what I saw: big, fast and tough. Good backcheck to break up a Celebrini line rush, then bulled the puck into the o-zone.

Alex Formenton, 7. Threw some solid hits. A few iffy moments on defence against tough competition. Almost scored in net scramble in the second. He helped win a loose puck battle in the d-zone, then rushed up ice to score a beauty breakaway backhander for the 3-0 goal.

Owen Michaels, 7. Solid game, but one bad mistake. Excellent puckhandling to kick off the 30 second virtuous cycle in the o-zone on Edmonton’s 1-0 goal. He gave away the puck in the d-zone, kicking off the sequence of pain on the 3-1 San Jose goal. He won a huge late third period faceoff on the PK. Overall 10 wins and two losses on the dot.

Mathieu Joseph, 7. Failed to cash in on a great stretch pass from Bouchard in the second, but got off a five-alarm backhander. Sharp pass to send in Formenton on the 3-0 goal.

Trent Frederic, 7. He came out a-hittin’ and a-puck-protectin’. That’s his game. He won a board battle and executed a Total Eclipse of the Sun screen on Edmonton’s 1-0 goal. Two good shots in tight on the PP in the third.

Isaac Howard, 7. He looked like an NHLer in this one. He looked good early on. He made the pass over to Ekholm on the 1-0 goal.

Josh Samanski, 7. His best game of the year. He won a board battle on the 1-0 goal. Solid otherwise.

Mattias Ekholm, 7. Good game. Slammed it top shelf where Momma keeps the cookies through a screen on the 1-0 goal. He and Bouchard kept a clean sheet at even strength, not one major mistake on a Grade A shot against.

Evan Bouchard,  7. Another strong performance. All kinds of solid passing plays early on, then sent in Joseph with a 130-foot stretch pass in the second. He charged up ice and passed it to McDavid on Edmonton’s 2-0 goal rush.

Connor Murphy, 4. Struggling a bit just now. Good defensive block in the slot in the first. He was in on the 3-0 goal, winning the puck in the d-zone. He got beat by Chernyshov on a breakaway rush in the third, but managed to hack him a bit on the shot without getting penalized. He screened Jarry on the 3-1 goal.

Ryan Shea, 5. He got beat by Chernyshov down the wing in the second, but the winger failed to capitalize. Chernyshov beat him and Murphy again on a third period breakaway. Some good moments with the puck.

Ty Emberson, 6. Another solid game in limited time. He kept a clean sheet at even strength.

Shakir Mukhamadullin, 6. He got caught with his head down and was smithereened to the ice by Jacob Trouba. Also kept a clean sheet.

Tristan Jarry, 7. Quiet first two periods, a few solid saves, a couple of post shots. Huge stop on Chernyshov’s third period breakaway. Tough play on San Jose’s 3-1 goal, as Murphy screened him. Made the saves when the Oilers needed them.