2024-25 Playoff Focus: Evan Bouchard (GM3 vs. DAL)

The right man for the job

Credit: NHL.com

After dictating the action in Dallas, Edmonton hosted a different Stars club on Sunday afternoon. Peter DeBoer’s troops registered 12 of the 15 high-danger chances at 5-on-5 through two periods. The Oilers therefore needed to weather the storm and then strike with pinpoint accuracy.

As luck would have it, their 1D (Evan Bouchard) happens to run on killer instinct. The league leader in postseason scoring among defensemen (17 points) certainly demonstrated his opportunistic tendencies in Game 3.

If I were to tell you that the 25-year-old scored the opener, you’d probably assume it was a Bouch Bomb. You’d be right (EDM 2):

The key isn’t velocity, though. It’s timing. Letting the play breathe so that Connor McDavid (EDM 97) can carry Dallas’ F3 (Wyatt Johnston, DAL 53) to the slot and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM 93) can turn his eyes toward the trailer. Bouchard’s shot placement takes hold from there, as he uses his captain’s screen to beat Jake Oettinger (DAL 29) just inside the post on a low stick-side timer.

While the pending RFA is known for launching lethal long-distance bids, he can affect opposing defenses without the puck too:

Instead of racing back to home base upon receiving a new stick at the bench, Bouchard lingers on the DZ blue line to assess the situation on the far-side wall, notices the change of possession and joins the rush to stack the deck against Cody Ceci (DAL 44).

The 3-on-1 setting forces the Stars rearguard into a more central berth (between the circles), which prevents him from truly challenging McDavid or Nugent-Hopkins’ touches. 2-0.

Edmonton’s 10th overall pick in 2018 would flash his nose for numbers off the puck again early in the second period:

Following a McDavid interception low in the DZ, Bouchard begins climbing up the ice. Zach Hyman (EDM 18) does the same to his right. Once Mikko Rantanen (DAL 96) takes a spill near the top of the circle, the D-man recognizes his advantage and hustles to swap roles from trailer to middle driver in transition.

This pulls Thomas Harley (DAL 55) inside and pushes him off the line. Consequently, Evander Kane (EDM 91) can fire from the left faceoff dot. He’s quite slow on the trigger, but this is a quality look for a marksman of his caliber.

Throughout the contest—and especially through 40 minutes—Bouchard sensed and seized his opportunities to tip the scales in the Oilers’ favor. Here’s a chance off a NZ breakup and nifty toe drag:

Distribution is perhaps the most underrated facet of his skill set. He’s a fantastic puck-mover whose progressive passes get Edmonton out of the starting blocks on a regular basis.

They’re also deadly on NZ resets. On the sequence below, he grabs Mikael Granlund’s (DAL 64) lob, waits for McDavid to arrive between the dots (and thus beyond the Finn’s grasp) and leads him downhill to attack Ceci with pace. With a little help from Esa Lindell (DAL 23) the veteran defenseman does enough to survive:

Seconds later, however, Bouchard squeezes the puck past Rantanen on the boards and McDavid is on the loose once more:

The sneaky release deserves props, but it’s Bouchard’s knack for spotting vulnerabilities that sets the whole play in motion. He makes the Stars pay for failing to attach themselves to 97 in the NZ.

Game 3 was a display of Bouchard’s offensive multiplicity. Although he does boast a terrifying point shot (particularly when Edmonton’s forwards collapse the PK and he wraps behind them), he’s so much more than an automatic slapper. His timely breakout passes and activation on the rush were crucial to an Oilers squad that didn’t dominate the chance share on Sunday.

They simply made theirs count.

On the night, Bouchard notched 1 goal, 1 primary assist and Edmonton outscored the Stars 3-0 during his shifts.

Here are the full highlights:

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