The Good, Bad & Ugly In Maple Leafs’ 4-3 Win Over the Oilers

The Toronto Maple Leafs scored three early goals and then hung on by the skin of their teeth to come away with a 4-3 win over the Oilers in Edmonton on Saturday night. It was an entertaining game and fans couldn’t have asked for a more chaotic finish. It didn’t go the Oilers’ way, thanks to a close offside by a former Leaf. Woll helped the Maple Leafs pick up two points. What were the good, bad, and ugly aspects of the game?

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The Good: Maple Leafs Get Tavares and Knies Back

After only scoring three goals on 91 shots in over 180 minutes of hockey played over their last three-plus games, the Maple Leafs scored three goals on eight shots in a span of 3:18 to take a 3-0 lead in this game.

Having John Tavares and Matthew Knies back in the lineup made a huge difference. Tavares had the primary assist on the first Toronto goal, scored by William Nylander. Knies scored the second goal and added an assist on Mitch Marner’s goal early in the third period that put the Maple Leafs up 4-1 at the time. Having both players back allowed Craig Berube to reunite the Bobby McMann, Tie Domi, and Nick Robertson line. It also moved David Kämpf and Pontus Holmberg back to their usual fourth-line spots, roles they are much more comfortable in and suited for. McMann was the other goal scorer for Toronto.

While there were only four penalties in the game, special teams played a role in the outcome as the Maple Leafs were two for two on the power play, and they killed both of the advantage the Oilers had.

Joseph Woll Was the Maple Leafs Difference-Maker

While it is difficult to say the Maple Leafs didn’t deserve this win, as they scored four goals, if it wasn’t for Joseph Woll, Edmonton might have walked away with the win. Woll was named the No. 1 star despite giving up three goals. That happens very rarely in the NHL. Edmonton fired 48 shots at the Toronto net. Woll stopped 45 of them. That shot accumulation meant that even with the three goals, Woll still posted a .938 SV%.

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Woll sets a personal best record for games played each time he starts a game. He also sets a new career record for wins for every victory he registers. His previous high for games played was 25. He has now made 29 appearances. The most wins he has had in a season previously was 12. He now has 19 wins this season.

Nylander’s goal was his 30th of the season. He has scored 30 or more goals five times in his career and the last four seasons. Nylander is tied for third in goal-scoring in the league. Knies’ goal was his 18th of the season. He is on pace to flirt with a 30-goal season. Marner had a goal and an assist to bring his season’s point total to 70 in 52 games. He is third in overall NHL scoring and second in assists with 54.

The Maple Leafs Are Defending Better

One “Good” thing that jumped out at me while watching the game demonstrates the difference in how the Maple Leafs are defending this season. With just over three minutes left in the first period, an Edmonton defenseman had the puck at the point and appeared to be striding toward the net to take a shot. In the past, under Sheldon Keefe, the Toronto players would have been focused on the puck.

In this play, Simon Benoit ignored the puck and the shooter and concentrated on boxing out Kasperi Kapanen, allowing Woll to see the shot coming through. Woll made the save, but the puck rebounded toward Adam Henrique. Henrique couldn’t play the puck because he was tied up by Pontus Holmberg, who was also ignoring the puck and playing the man. That allowed the puck to bounce harmlessly to Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who could turn the play up the ice.

Berube’s thinking on how a team should defend aligns with the way I was taught a team should defend. Playing the puck is always reactionary. Doing things to prevent opposing players from playing the puck is more proactive.

The Maple Leafs Got a Lucky Break in the Third Period

Maybe the most important “Good” that happened in the Maple Leafs’ favor was a lucky break late in the third period. With the goalie pulled for a sixth attacker, Leon Draisaitl one-timed a shot that beat Woll to tie the game. With the Edmonton fans going nuts, Berube called timeout.

The reason for the timeout was to give the Maple Leafs’ video crew time to examine the play. After reviewing it, Berube challenged the goal based on a player being offside on the zone entry. Sure enough, replays showed that John Klingberg entered the zone inches ahead of the puck. The call negated the goal. Rather than the game being tied 4-4, the score remained 4-3.

One last “Good” was that Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet, and Leon Draisaitl recorded just a single point in the game. Shutting down both of those players is a feat in itself.

The Bad: The Oilers Dominated the Last Two Periods

By the numbers, while the first period was all Toronto, the remaining 40 minutes were dominated by the Oilers. Over the last two periods, Edmonton outshot the Maple Leafs 34-16 and outscored them 3-1. The Oilers had more than three-quarters of the shot attempts, scoring chances, expected goals, and high-danger scoring chances over the last two periods. Toronto went from being on its toes for the first 20 minutes to being on its heels for the last two periods.

Toronto lost Oliver Ekman-Larsson at the end of the first period. He left the game with what was described as a lower-body injury. Berube stated after the game that he was not aware OEL had injured himself until he was told by a trainer he would not be returning to the game. Nick Robertson had a bit of a scare late in the game when he left the bench after blocking a shot, but he did return to finish the game.

The Ugly: Corey Perry Gets Away with Penalties

There are certain players who, for whatever reason, always seem to get away with close to murder when they play the Maple Leafs. Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins is one of those players. Another one is Corey Perry, regardless of what team he’s with when they play in Toronto.

This game was no different. With just over seven minutes to go in the second period, Connor McDavid was skating the puck through the neutral zone, and Max Pacioretty was pursuing him. Perry skated across the ice and laid a solid hit on Pacioretty even though Pacioretty did not have the puck. The hit knocked the stick out of Pacioretty’s hand, and he was stunned.

This should have been an easy and obvious call for a referee. Yet no hand went up, and no call was made. While he was shaken up on the play, Pacioretty did stay in the game.

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

While the Toronto Marlies had a few days to bask in the California sun on their extended West Coast trip, the Maple Leafs have a couple of days to take in the freezing cold of Canada’s prairies in Alberta. They don’t play again until Tuesday, when they visit Calgary and take on the Flames.

Two players who can probably use the rest are Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev. With the Maple Leafs defending a lead for most of the Oilers game, McCabe played over half the game, totaling 30:22 in TOI. Tanev logged 26:37 of ice time himself.

The most active player by far was Woll. Unless Anthony Stolarz is ready to go on Tuesday, I would guess Woll would get the start in Calgary. A few days’ rest could probably do him a world of good as well.

After the Maple Leafs finish in Alberta, they head to the West Coast. But they go much farther north than the Marlies. On Thursday, they take on the Seattle Kraken in a game with a 10:00 p.m. EST start. They then cross back into Canada to take on the Vancouver Canucks on Hockey Night in Canada next Saturday.

Related: Could the Maple Leafs Make a Move for Mason McTavish?