Well, the Maple Leafs are now 21-5-2 against the Edmonton Oilers in the Auston Matthews era, and 12-2-1 in Edmonton specifically.
This might have been their best win yet: A resounding 7-2 victory in which the Leafs came out flying, eventually took the lead in the final six minutes of the first period, and never looked back.
From the first shift of the game, both Jack Roslovic and Easton Cowan came out firing, and it was pretty clear the Leafs didn’t have much respect for Tristan Jarry (nor should they). Shots were 4-0 Leafs early on, and they were creating offense until Roslovic took a bit of a careless offensive-zone penalty. That penalty kill turned out to be a pretty big moment as Troy Stecher arguably stopped two goals with a good stick. On one, he got just enough of the puck, but Stolarz still had to stretch and knock it off the goal line.
The period evened out from there, with not a ton happening either way until Matthews recovered a puck following a Bouchard shot that caught the Oilers defenseman deep. Matthews fired off a beautiful lob stretch pass down the ice to Cowan, who blew the zone with Roslovic, creating a wide-open 2v1. Cowan made the right read to shoot as the pass was taken away and Jarry was in net, but Jarry actually made the save. Roslovic stuck with it and tried to corral the puck, but as he did, Walman whacked at it and put it into his own net. It’s a shame the scorekeeper credited it as an own goal, so neither Cowan nor Matthews got the assists they deserved.
The Leafs took that lead into the first intermission after some 4v4 hockey at the end of the period, which they did well to neutralize, given Edmonton’s firepower. They did the same to start the second, and when the play returned to 5v5, the Leafs opened a big lead.
First, Jack Roslovic sprung a Cowan-Matthews 2v1 with a high flip off the glass. Cowan patiently waited for the lane to open up, then megged Ryan Shea with a perfect pass through his legs that Auston Matthews made zero mistake on. Matthews’ celebration — he waited with a straight face until Cowan rounded the net and joined him, then let out a huge woo — was awesome. Cowan is emerging in front of our eyes, and Matthews knows it. That was a big-time pass.
Just 54 seconds later, the Leafs extended their lead as Troy Stecher picked off an errant pass in the offensive zone, led the breakout, and jumped up the ice. Marchenko gained the zone down the wall, and Ryan Shea inexplicably stepped up on him, overcommitting in the process. Marchenko spun off him and found a streaking Stecher as the trailer. Stecher walked in with some confidence off his goal last game and roofed it. Against the Rangers, he went high glove, and on this one, he went high blocker. Both shots were short-side.
Up 3-0 before the halfway point against an explosive Oilers team, it suddenly became interesting to see how the Leafs would go about holding the lead. For most of the rest of the period, they did a pretty good job managing the game and snuffing out any Oilers momentum, until the final quarter or so of the period, when Cowan got called for a slashing penalty. On balance, it was a slash, but it was still a hilarious call given all the Oilers infractions that went uncalled to that point.
The Leafs appeared to be cruising toward the end of the period after another successful penalty kill until Nick Paul took a coincidental penalty while sparring with Owen Michaels. It’s a fine line; Paul really didn’t need to do what he did up 3-0, but you also like to see the team get physical, aggressive, and feisty. Both Roslovic and Duhaime were mouthing off from the bench, too, which you also don’t mind seeing.
However, the Leafs did pay the price at 4v4, as Mike Babcock’s subtle move worked out. Previously, the Leafs went head-to-head with Matthews against McDavid at 4v4, but this time, Babcock kept McDavid and Draisaitl on the bench to start. Matthews went out as the Leafs had first change, and they didn’t manage the puck well enough in those circumstances. They turned it over, and when they were at the end of their shift, McDavid and Draisaitl hopped the boards with fresh legs, lapped the zone, and Draisaitl sifted a wrist shot through traffic that Stolarz didn’t have much of a chance on.
That goal felt like it could have been a turning point, but give the Leafs credit: They came out in the third period and actually played hockey. The Oilers put one shot on net in the first six minutes of the period, while Gavin McKenna drew a penalty following a proper breakout sequence by his line.
McKenna then stayed on to start a power-play sequence in which he passed it to Marchenko below the goal line, where he ripped a pass through the penalty kill to Raddysh on the point. Raddysh froze the goaltender for a second before teeing up Nylander for a one-timer that he was never missing. He had so much net—more than he should have, to be honest—so it was easy pickings for #88.
At 4-1, the Leafs generally kept the game at a proper pace. That’s the big thing you’re looking for—don’t let Edmonton open the game up and generate a bunch of scoring chances, which is what happened against the Sabres just a week ago (that feels like an eternity ago right now).
The cherry on top was Zack MacEwen flying down the wing, beating Jake Walman wide to get a shot off, and then batting in his own rebound. MacEwen was awesome against the Rangers, and he was great again in this one. He deserved this goal, and it was a fantastic moment.
The Oilers got a customary power play toward the end of the game and scored to finally snap the Leafs’ PK streak. Vinni Lettieri held serve by going down and scoring in the final minute because, well, why not? McKenna picked up an assist on the goal in front of friends and family, to boot.
Final: 7-2 Leafs, as McDavid looked longingly at the logo he grew up cheering for, and Toronto fans belted out Go Leafs Go, taking over Edmonton’s barn.
Post-Game Notes
- This was Darren Raddysh’s best game as a Leaf to date. He played 21:39, as the Leafs were up big down the stretch, and he picked up a primary assist on the Nylander power-play goal. Most importantly, he played eight minutes against McDavid and Draisaitl at 5v5, sawed them off in shot attempts, and won the minutes 2-0. Raddysh really rose to the occasion on this one, and there were a number of sequences where he fully shadowed McDavid around the Leafs’ zone and neutralized him as best as one possibly can. There have been a lot of positive developments this week, but truthfully, the biggest might be the McCabe-Raddysh pairing starting to gel. The Leafs’ defensive issues are well documented — and this isn’t to take away anything from Troy Stecher, Easton Cowan, or a number of other players playing fantastic lately — but a solid top pairing makes life so much easier and has a huge domino effect throughout the lineup.
- Of note, the Leafs didn’t give up a 5v5 goal to the Oilers. Edmonton scored at 4v4 as well as a garbage-time PP goal. The shot attempts at 5v5 were even, and that was with the Leafs holding a pretty notable lead just over 25 minutes into the game. That’s some really good stuff.
- With the last change, Edmonton’s approach was really strange. They gave the Leafs the Matthews-McDavid matchup, which is what they wanted. Matthews played nearly 11 and a half minutes against McDavid. The Matthews line was out-attempted 19-13, which was exacerbated given the Leafs held such a big lead for the majority of the game, but they won their 5v5 minutes 2-0 on some quick counters up ice. The Oilers are a really weird team; you would basically count the shifts until McDavid came on, as their depth has very little to offer, but McDavid and Draisaitl are just so good that they can often overwhelm and win it on their own (alongside Bouchard). For the Leafs, they will happily take the Matthews-McDavid matchup — which they won anyway — and then let the rest of their lineup, which actually has depth, go against whatever else the Oilers are running. Every Leafs line scored at 5v5 in this game.
- To that end, Matthews played a forward-high 17:13 in this one. The next highest were Nick Paul and William Nylander, tied at 15:59. Only MacEwen played under 10 minutes, and it was an effective 9:39. The Oilers had four (!) forwards play more than Matthews.
- Troy Stecher led the Leafs with 24:21 on the night and scored a goal. It’s hard to overstate what he is doing right now. He has been elite on the penalty kill, is chipping in offense, and is soaking up huge minutes. He did this at one point last season for the Leafs, too, and they strangely just started yanking him off the McCabe pairing to play OEL there instead (it sounds insane to even write this). We will see how they handle him moving forward, but clearly he’s a big part of this team right now.
- We used to talk about this a lot in the Matthews-Marner era, when they both played a ton every night, but I’d much rather have the team with depth spread out across three/four lines that stays hungry on pucks with everyone’s ice time in check. The fourth line has been a real spark plug for the Leafs, but that can only happen if you empower them in the first place. They are bought-in contributors right now, and besides the offense, they stole a couple of shifts against the McDavid line, which helps with the matchup game. It’s a small-margin win, but the margins add up.
- I really liked the Leafs’ overall aggression in this game. In the first, Zach Hyman bumped into Stolarz, and McCabe gave him some whacks that clearly stung him—plain and simple, don’t touch the goalie. There were a number of other scrums in front, too, where the Leafs weren’t having the nonsense. The Leafs’ fourth line combined for 12 hits, and they were mouthy on a number of occasions during and after the whistle. They have a bit of “drag you into the fight” in them right now. Even Vinni Lettieri got into a fight with an Oiler roughly half a foot taller than him because, well, why not? They have a bit of fight right now; we will see if it can continue against bigger, more physical opponents.
- Brandon Duhaime is probably getting lost in the shuffle a bit in terms of what he’s providing, but he has been really good in his role. He’s played over 13 minutes in three straight games for the Leafs now and has four points in his last two. In the first, he lifted Draisaitl’s stick in the slot to break up what easily could have been a goal (Draisaitl finished a similar look late in the third). He’s giving the Leafs good, dependable minutes, and he’s helping cycle and grind pucks in the offensive zone. There is not much offense in his game, but he’s effective at cycling and working the walls. He’s also a player who always has something to say, which I like.
- Kirill Marchenko picked up two assists on the night, and it almost felt like a quiet night for him. Still, he was doing a lot of the play driving for his line, coming low in the defensive zone, gathering the puck, and leading breakouts. On the other side, Nylander was blowing the zone, which they would use either for stretch passes or to create space for Marchenko to skate it out himself. The additional effective puck carrier is making a notable difference throughout the Leafs’ lineup.
- Tip of the hat to Jack Roslovic, who has played a former employer in three straight games and has six points in those games, with the Leafs winning all of them. His speed creates a lot of space and is effective on the forecheck, where he is getting to pucks and winning them back.
- Anthony Stolarz was fantastic in this game, and one of the most underrated aspects of this game was his puck handling. The Leafs’ defense isn’t exactly full of puck movers, and Stolarz himself simply stopped a lot of pucks on dump-ins and started the breakout. His puck-moving ability is a significant asset, and on more than one play, he was essentially a third defenseman moving it cleanly. Additionally, his breakaway save on Zach Hyman with the game at 1-0 is a big moment that’s easy to lose in the shuffle of this game. As everyone knows at this point, Stolarz really is an excellent goalie. We know what the “but” is as well.
- That was the best game for the McKenna-Sissons-Lettieri line, which out-attempted Edmonton 12-4 in those minutes and technically added a goal when Lettieri scored late. McKenna drew a penalty following a nice breakout sequence that effectively iced the game for the Leafs. They were, if nothing else, not a complete liability. McKenna looked a bit more determined to get the puck and drive it up ice himself, while Lettieri had five shots on net and was clearly looking to be aggressive. This is a stopgap line while Tavares remains out, but if they can just get some baseline hockey out of them as they did in this one, the other three lines — which are all clicking — will be more than enough to win on most nights.
- Hardly noticed Dakota Mermis, which is a good thing in his case, as he played 14:22 in his season debut and finished plus-two. Solid if unspectacular is all they’re looking for in that lineup spot at the moment.
- A 4-0-0 week without Chris Tanev and John Tavares. Every team has injuries and has to work through them, but those are two pretty significant players, and their absences did/would have sunk the team last season. Not right now.
Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts
Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts
