It was Auston Matthews vs. Connor McDavid on Hockey Night in Canada on a Saturday night (Feb. 1). What more can you ask for? The Edmonton Oilers were looking for a win, but unfortunately, their comeback fell just short, as they lost a tough one to the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 4-3.
Toronto dominated early, as they were up 3-0 just 12:50 into the first period. William Nylander, Matthew Knies, and Bobby McMann got the party started for the Leafs before Evan Bouchard got the Oilers on the board 11:27 into the second period. Mitch Marner restored Toronto’s three-goal lead just 18 seconds into the third period, but Edmonton wouldn’t go away, as they got goals from Zach Hyman and Corey Perry to make the game interesting. Leon Draisaitl thought he tied the game with two minutes remaining, but the play was deemed offside, which ended the comeback bid.
Despite the valiant comeback attempt, there wasn’t much positivity in this one. Here are five takeaways from this disappointing loss.
Oilers Had a Brutal First Period
The Oilers battled the Maple Leafs on prime-time television, and Edmonton laid an absolute egg in the first period. They were simply not ready to play, and Toronto made them pay.
Related: Maple Leafs Dominate First Period and Hold on for 4-3 Victory Over Oilers
This was an embarrassing effort from the net out. Stuart Skinner looked extremely shaky, allowing rebound after rebound, and the defenders weren’t helping at all. They were giving the puck away like candy on Halloween.
In the first few minutes, Nylander completely walked around defenceman John Klingberg, who fell down trying to defend, leading to a breakaway. Then, Bouchard had a few terrible turnovers which led to offensive zone time for Toronto. That led to some Oiler penalties, and they proved costly. However, Bouchard was much better in the final two periods. He scored a goal from his patented “Bouch Bomb”, and registered an assist while limiting the turnovers through the final two periods. But, that terrible start was still too much to overcome.
Oilers Missed Mattias Ekholm
The Oilers were without veteran blueliner Mattias Ekholm, who’s been under the weather all week. As a result, the defensive pairings were all mixed up. Darnell Nurse played with Klingberg, Bouchard played with Brett Kulak, and Ty Emberson played with Troy Stecher. The absence of the Swedish defenceman was very much noticed in this one, especially in that abysmal first period. He’s a calming presence back there and averages 22:45 in ice time a game. Those minutes cannot be replaced, and it’s abundantly clear that this team still needs to find a second-pair, right-shot defenceman by the trade deadline. They need more depth on the blue line come playoff time, because injuries do happen, so they need to be prepared.
Abysmal Special Teams Prove Costly
Those brutal opening 20 minutes were enhanced by the two power-play goals allowed on Toronto’s only two opportunities. The penalty killers did a poor job of boxing out the front of the net. Skinner gave up some juicy rebounds, and while he needed to control them, the defenders needed to do a better job of not allowing their opponents to get to those loose pucks.
The Oilers’ power play was also 0-for-2, which didn’t help matters. If they just scored one goal on the man advantage, this game likely goes to overtime. While they did generate some chances and had 10 shots during their two power plays, the Maple Leafs’ goaltender denied them all.
Oilers Got Goalied Again
This has been a theme throughout this season, but once again, Stuart Skinner was the second-best goaltender on the ice. He was absolutely brutal in the first period, allowing three goals on 12 shots and four goals on 28 shots overall for a putrid .857 save percentage (SV%). Two goals were the result of poor rebound control, and the fourth went right through him. He needed to come up with some big saves, or at least keep the Oilers in the game, but he did neither.
The Oilers were much better in the final two frames for the most part, outshooting Toronto 34-16. But, Joseph Woll answered the bell.
“We were much better in the second and third, and their goaltender played really well, especially in the last two minutes of the game. We had numerous chances, but he made many quality stops,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said during his post-game presser. Woll made a great save in the dying moments of the game, which solidified the victory.
Those timely saves are crucial for success, and Woll delivered, while Skinner didn’t. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Maple Leafs had 2.76 expected goals to the Oilers’ 5.08. In all situations, Edmonton had 36 scoring chances to Toronto’s 21. Based on these numbers, the Oilers should have won this game, but goaltending was ultimately the difference.
Oilers’ Comeback Fell Short
When Marner extended Toronto’s lead to 4-1 just 18 seconds into the third period, that seemed like the nail in the coffin. However, the Oilers battled back until the very end. They made the game extremely interesting, but it wasn’t meant to be, as the tying goal was millimeters offside.
This was a frustrating result, but that’s what happens when you fail to start on time. Edmonton has fallen behind far too many times this season and it’s cost them. Constantly chasing the game is not a recipe for success. They simply need to be better out of the gates.
The Oilers have their annual skills competition on Sunday (Feb. 2) at Rogers Place before hitting the road for a mini two-game trip on back-to-back nights against the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. Then, they come home for one game against the Colorado Avalanche, before kicking off their 4 Nations Face-Off break.
