In a game that will be remembered, Evan Bouchard, defenseman for the Edmonton Oilers, had a performance below his level against the New York Islanders on Thursday night. The player’s mistakes were directly responsible for two goals against, as well as several turnovers and poor decisions that generated clear scoring opportunities for the opposing team. I have to improve this. You learn from it, obviously a lot. Part of the game is to forget the good and the bad, so let’s move on, be ready for the next game. Despite being one of the highest-paid defensemen in the NHL, Bouchard, with a salary of $10.5 million, typically justifies his value by generating offense for his team. His 72 points in the last three playoffs surpass the next player in his position by 40. I know people can be hard on him for mistakes, but you also have to look at the positive side of what he brings. I’m sure he knows he could have made other decisions tonight, but I know there are other games and you could see the other night when he just bulldozes his way through their forwards and just makes everyone look silly and things you wouldn’t even think about. I would be careful criticizing him because that’s just him. In an unfortunate play, Bouchard lost the puck in the neutral zone to Mat Barzal, who took advantage of the situation to score his first goal since January.
Later, in the second period, with Edmonton on a power play, Bouchard was outplayed by Bo Horvat, who scored on a breakaway.Just a bad play on my part.
Evan Bouchard
The Oilers coach, Kris Knoblauch, after the 4-2 defeat, commented that he had seen Bouchard play better.I thought I could keep it if (Islanders player Jean-Gabriel Pageau) pushed him against the wall. Obviously, he didn’t.
Evan Bouchard
Ekholm, defense partner, highlighted Bouchard’s ability to quickly forget mistakes, a quality that his coach has noticed on multiple occasions.We can’t just accept that. Mistakes happen, but we have to address what kind of mistakes are happening. Evan is a fantastic player, one of the best in the league, certainly one of the best defensemen in the NHL. Tonight was not his night, but I have always seen him respond and play much better after games like this.
Kris Knoblauch
Bouchard has received the support of his teammates, who urge him to “keep making plays.” Ekholm is confident that Bouchard will prove his worth in the next game against the New Jersey Devils.I usually see him bounce back immediately after a bad shift, maybe a turnover, and it doesn’t affect him, and he makes the next play the next time. But we’re going to move on. We can’t dwell on it too much. We have to learn from the things that happened. Evan is one of our best players and we need to have him playing like one of our best.
Kris Knoblauch
I’m sure we’ll see a different Bouchard. I’m sure he’ll come back with strength and vengeance.
Mattias Ekholm
