Mattias Ekholm is certainly more renowned for his defensive efforts. That’s what excited the Oilers most about getting him back into the lineup for Game 5 of the Western Conference final, his first game since April 11 because of injury.
But he’s certainly no slouch offensively — he’s a half-a-point-per-game producer as a defenseman, after all — and he came through at a key time on Wednesday.
Ekholm took a pass from Connor McDavid at the faceoff dot and beat Sergei Bobrovsky glove side at 6:33 of the third to tie the game. He looked like a forward finishing off that play.
Most important for the Oilers was Ekholm’s usage. After playing just shy of 16 minutes in his return to action last Thursday, he was up to 17:08 through regulation as he inches closer to his 22:12 regular-season average.
The Oilers have their most well-rounded D corps since maybe the 1980s glory days, so it’s not like they must lean on Ekholm to have success. Safe to say, though, the more they can get out of him, the better. The defense is usually a given. A little offense, too, never hurts.