IT WAS A TALE OF TWO YOUNG WINGERS IN GAME 1
Yamamoto was all over the ice while Puljujarvi wasn't really much of a factor
While Mike Smith's gaffe was the talk of the town after Game 1 — live by the sword, die by the sword as the most active puck-moving goalie in the world — the other storyline to keep an eye on was the tale of two young guys, Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi.
Yamamoto had a whale of a game. Puljujarvi looked like he had some stage fright. And they need both wingers going.
The playoffs are chock full of young players who are learning on the fly. Pavel Datsyuk was very ordinary for the Red Wings early on. Ryan Nugent-hopkins and Jordan Eberle here in 2017 when neither scored in 13 games against San Jose and Anaheim with Nugent-hopkins picking up four assists and Eberle two.
One game on Monday is a small sample. But it was revealing nevertheless.
Yamamoto, the smallest player in the NHL (153 pounds with gusts to 160 if he eats several pizzas), was fantastic in almost 18 minutes with a goal and an assist, four shots and a wrestling move takedown of Alex Iafallo that got him the game's first penalty.
“He was all over the game ... he did a lot of good things, hard the forecheck, got pucks back, made some great plays, scored a goal,” said captain Connor Mcdavid
He got 3:04 on the power play, deftly tipping a nice Duncan Keith pass by Jonathan Quick. He played 1:14 on the penaltykill that was four-for-four. He began with Leon Draisaitl but also got work with Mcdavid. He and Mcdavid were the best two Oilers in Game 1.
Puljujarvi's tenaciousness has been obvious during the season, as he retrieved pucks in the corners and kept plays going as a top-six forward. But he was only around the puck, not on the puck in Game 1. When he's on his game, he gets inside, but he didn't Monday, in stark contrast to Yamamoto.
He had his quietest game of the season, a season low 7:52. He had one shot blocked and nothing got to Quick where he had to make a save. He started with Mcdavid, got some later time with Draisaitl but Zack Kassian and Derek Ryan wound up playing more on right wing than Puljujarvi.
Puljujarvi shrugged off his ice time Tuesday. Playing only eight minutes? Frustrated? No.
“Of course I like to play more but there were lots of power play and PK (four a side) and I don't play those right now,” said Puljujarvi, who has played in front of the net on the PP but Zach Hyman, Yamamoto and Kane have been doing that more.
“I'm just going to try and play hard those minutes that I get.”
His prolonged scoring slump doesn't seem to be worrying him, either. His hands seem to have deserted him. He has 88 shots and four goals since New Year's Eve.
“Of course, it's a little frustrating when I get good chances and don't get a goal but it's part of the game,” he said. “I was a little bit nervous last night but also excited for a new playoff series.”
Head coach Jay Woodcroft said the special teams were a factor in Puljujarvi's 7:52.
“If you watched how the game played out, there were four power plays each and that's 16 minutes right there. When you're not touching that side of the game that means there's only 44 minutes to play and those usually get evenly distributed,” said Woodcroft.
“I thought there were some good things about Jesse's game, most notably some good plays on the track and he did some things for his linemates but when it's a penalty-filled game, that's when you sometimes see a player's minutes down.”
Puljujarvi was effective in the playoffs last season against Winnipeg with a goal and an assist in four games, and Yamamoto wasn't a factor. But in Game 1 against the Kings, Yamamoto, who had seven points in his last five league games, thrived in the pressure cooker Monday while Puljujarvi wasn't a factor.
Does Woodcroft move Puljujarvi, who turns 24 on Saturday, onto the third line with Nugent-hopkins for Game 2 so Nugent-hopkins has an offensive player with him? Does Yamamoto start on right wing with Mcdavid? Does Hyman move from left to right side and Ryan Mcleod play left wing with Draisaitl on the second line? Woodcroft wasn't saying.
A longtime NHL coach, who has no dog in the fight, is hugely impressed with Yamamoto's drive against players who outweigh him by 50 pounds.
“The one thing you see in Yamamoto is his fearlessness. He fights to the front of the net and every once in a while he is a pretty physical player,” said the veteran coach. “Maybe it's giving him too much credit but he's like a young Martin St. Louis. He's heard growing up that he's too small and he's going to prove everybody wrong.”
Woodcroft loved Yamamoto's play.
“Kailer was emotionally attached to the game, physically invested, did hard things
... relentless on the forecheck, detailed on the backcheck,” he said.
The Oilers need both kids on all cylinders in a matchup of top two lines.
“Jesse's had a little bit of (NHL) success but he hasn't had that big success that was expected of him (fourth overall draft pick) in the beginning. He's always been under the gun,” said the veteran coach.
“There's a stark difference in the expectations of both from the day they were drafted. Yamamoto was probably at a much lower bar than Puljujarvi. I think Jesse has been fighting it since Day 1.”