Leafs get a little help from a foe, hold on for victory

Kristen Shilton

TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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The Maple Leafs got one more lucky break than the Oilers on Thursday night, and it was all they needed to secure a 6-4 victory in Edmonton. In the dying minutes of the third period in a tie game, Oilers defenceman Kris Russell fired an own-goal into his net that broke the stalemate and handed the Leafs their second straight win to improve to 17-9-1 on the season, one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning who lead the Eastern Conference standings.

TAKEAWAYS

Play to the whistle

It ain’t over till it’s over – even if you’re playing the third-worst team in the league that has yet to win consecutive games at home this season. That’s the lesson Toronto saw play out over an entertaining 60-minute contest that went back and forth to the game’s final minute. The Leafs were completely dominant in the first period, peppering Laurent Brossoit (elevated to starter after Cam Talbot was placed on IR Thursday morning) with shots and dancing around Edmonton’s disorganized defence. The Leafs entered the second period with a 3-1 lead and a 15-13 advantage in shots, but the Oilers had regrouped and by the end of the middle frame the Leafs were only up a 4-3 score. Toronto got sloppy in its own end, getting lackadaisical with the puck. The Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev blueline pairing had particular trouble in front of Frederik Andersen during the second period, turning the puck over and looking disoriented as the whole team began struggling to counter Edmonton’s speed. After giving up two goals to the Leafs on five shots, Brossoit really settled into his crease and came up with a string of terrific stops to give the Oilers a fighting chance. Edmonton outshot the Leafs in the second and third periods, and bested them in puck possession at 60 per cent through the final 40 minutes. While they were the better team down the stretch, Edmonton was done in by Russell’s own-goal with 1:05 left in the third period. It was the defenceman who had tied the game 4-4 early in the third, and with the clock winding down he tried to bank the puck off the end boards when he fired it directly into Brossoit’s net to hand the Leafs a victory (Patrick Marleau was credited with the winning goal). Brossoit turned aside 30 of 35 shots from the Leafs, while Andersen stopped 41 of 45. ​

Fourth-line fun

At even strength on Thursday, the fourth lines for both teams were their most productive offensive units. For the Leafs, Dominic Moore and Matt Martin contributed tallies in Toronto’s three-goal first period, while Mark Letestu and Zack Kassian scored in the first and second period, respectively, for Edmonton, then Russell tied the game early in the third period while the fourth line was out once again. The production from Toronto’s bottom line has been greater than it was a year ago thanks to the revolving door of talent they’ve had joining them on right wing, namely William Nylander and Mitch Marner. Martin played all 82 games last season on the fourth line and posted just nine points; this season he already has eight points in 24 games. Meanwhile, Moore has had an underrated start to his second go-around with the Leafs. When he signed as a free agent during the off-season, Moore didn’t expect he would first be sharing the Leafs’ fourth-line centre job with Eric Fehr, and then be a healthy scratch in several games as Marleau was slotted at centre. But the 37-year-old Thornhill, Ont., product has still put up four goals and five assists in 18 games while averaging just over nine minutes of ice time per game. Toronto’s fourth line of Martin, Moore and Nylander finished with six shots on goal and plus-4. 

Pretty powerful players

Matthews missed the Leafs’ morning skate on Thursday as he battles a cold, but he looked no worse for wear by the puck drop. Toronto got an early power-play chance and the sophomore had his team on the board in a hurry with his first goal in five games, aided by great puck movement from fellow second-year Nylander with the setup. The man-advantage marker was Matthews’ second of the season, his first since Oct. 11 and he finished the game with the goal and an assist. Later in the second period, a bad boarding penalty by Eric Gryba taken just seconds after Edmonton tied the game opened the door for Nylander to give the Leafs back their lead. He needed just seven seconds of power-play time to tally his second goal in 19 games, and second of the year with the extra man. Nylander had already posted two assists through the game’s first 38 minutes to amass the first three-point game of his season. Finishing a perfect 2-for-2 on the power play, it was the second time in 13 games that unit has scored multiple goals, and they were no doubt helped by the fact Edmonton boasts the league’s worst penalty kill. Toronto is now 3-for-13 in their last five games on the power play.

Best in show

At home it would be Nazem Kadri getting the matchup against reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid, but on Oilers’ turf it was Matthews’ line with Zach Hyman and Connor Brown tasked with containing Edmonton’s top line. Matthews’ crew had done a fine job against the Calgary Flames’ best forwards in Tuesday’s 4-1 win. While that unit started well against McDavid, Milan Lucic and Jesse Puljujarvi, they eventually had trouble keeping up, just like the rest of the Leafs. McDavid’s line had a quiet first period as they were held to just one shot on goal, but they had more jump in the next 40 minutes and took advantages of their opportunities. In the second period, McDavid busted a five-game scoring slump right after Ron Hainsey was taken out of the play by a shot off the leg from Lucic. That allowed McDavid easier net-front access to tip in Russell’s point shot. Hainsey didn’t look like himself when he returned for the third period and was caught chasing McDavid a couple times in the defensive zone, but the Oilers captain and his line did no further damage. By the end, McDavid’s line had sent 14 shots on Andersen compared to five by Matthews’ line on Broissoit, and the Oilers’ trio had the better of their Leafs’ counterparts at 56 per cent possession. 

Next game

The Leafs cap off their Western Canada swing against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday at 7 p.m.