Maple Leafs make it a sweep against McDavid and Oilers
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Author of the article:
Lance Hornby
Publishing date:
Mar 04, 2021 • 46 minutes ago • 3 minute read • 
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Maple Leafs’ William Nylander celebrates with teammates following his goal on Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender Mike Smith during the second period at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Photo by IAN KUCERAK /POSTMEDIA NETWORK Article content
The series was billed as a first-place showdown with the Maple Leafs, but ended with the Oilers shut down.
In the course of three well-deserved wins, using a trio of different goalies, four flying forward lines and a dominating defence, Toronto left a row of long faces on the Edmonton bench, Connor McDavid’s the most painful. Wednesday’s 6-1 rout at Rogers Place capped a 13-1 total bill and improved the Leafs’ NHL-best slate to 18-4-2. After a hot February, the Oilers gave up second place in the North Division to Winnipeg while being swept.
While the Leafs move on to Vancouver for a pair Thursday and Saturday, league-leading marksman McDavid was pondering just the third time in his career he’s gone three games without a point. Fellow frontrunner Leon Draisaitl avoided that fate with an assist on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ second-period goal that ended Toronto’s shutout streak at 148 minutes.
By then, the Leafs had broke it wide open with three goals in a span of just more than four minutes. Jimmy Vesey had two as the fourth line stepped up, William Nylander, John Tavares, Zach Hyman and Ilya Mikheyev piling on. The multi-point players included Jason Spezza with three helpers. The Leafs didn’t need Auston Matthews in his return from a wrist injury, though he had no apparent troubles shooting or taking faceoffs.
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Mike Smith had been a big part of the Oilers’ run, but he had to track too many buzzing Leafs. He was most irked by Hyman getting close to his crease, while the ‘Zip Line’ of Hyman, Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall helped keep the Oilers smothered. Hyman and Tavares had power-play goals.
“Skating a lot, being physical,” Engvall said before the game on what’s worked for their unit against McDavid and Draisaitl. “When we lose the puck, we work really hard to not give them something.”
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The Leafs have been prone to early pressure by the Oilers and only a combination of luck and Frederik Andersen’s goaltending stopped the Oilers from striking first on five early shots in the opening shifts.
Edmonton coach Dave Tippett, already without the suspended Alex Chiasson after his post-buzzer cross-check on Vesey, gave McDavid the presence of James Neal on his wing and insured support with a dynamite second line of Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto.
Maple Leafs’ William Nylander scores a goal on Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender Mike Smith during the second period at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. IAN KUCERAK/POSTMEDIA NETWORK
Yet it was fourth-liner Vesey who wound up with the first period’s only goal. With Alex Kerfoot keeping the puck deep to allow the line change, Travis Boyd and Spezza worked the puck to Vesey for his first goal since Jan. 22. He was on the verge of sitting before Matthews was hurt.
While the notion of silencing both McDavid and Draisaitl seemed far-fetched at the start of the series, the Leafs were going for the hat trick.
“The goaltending we’ve had has been really solid, that’s first and foremost,” said defenceman Jake Muzzin, who with partner Justin Holl has seen a lot of Edmonton’s top forwards the past three games. “And we’ve done a pretty good job taking away time and space and to clog up the middle and force them to the outside. They’re both good players, they’re going to get chances.”
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Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe added in no way are the Leafs resting on their laurels, stressing areas of the game that still need cleaning up during a Wednesday morning meeting. Winger Alexander Barabanov came out to accommodate Matthews.
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Andersen’s record is now 15-1-2 in his career against the Oilers and he was leading the league in wins when he suffered a lower-body injury. In his place, Jack Campbell made 30 saves, Michael Hutchinson 31, though Campbell hurt his leg again. Hutchinson backed up Wednesday with Campbell a possibility in Vancouver.
“They seem to have five guys around the puck everywhere,” McDavid said before the game. “We have to bring bodies into the fight and surround the puck and do a better job of checking ourselves. We need some more emotion. It’s been stale the last two games, physically and vocally on the bench.”
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Hutchinson’s performance, defensive effort lead Maple Leafs to another shutout vs. Oilers The Leafs also improved to 9-1-1 so far on the road, though they also won nine of their first 10 in 2018-19, a season that ended with them dropping Game 7 of the opening round in Boston.
lhornby@postmedia.com
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