Leafs good with missing McDavid in OT
• With about a minute to go on Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs were in a state of high anxiety for blowing a couple of leads against Edmonton and facing the Oilers track stars in 3-on-3 overtime. Kris Russell’s own- goal ended the threat of having Connor McDavid come out with 200 feet of ice to work with. Edmonton has three overtime wins.
“I was thinking about that a little bit on the bench,” said Patrick Marleau, who has almost 20 years on McDavid. “That would have been challenging. It’s amazing the way he moves out there. He’s got another gear and kind of looks like The Matrix the way he weaves in and out of guys.”
TURN THE SWITCH, MITCH
Now that William Nylander is getting some points and scored in Edmonton, the next snakebitten mate the Leafs would like to see get rolling is winger Mitch Marner.
He got nothing in the six goals in Edmonton, only one since opening night. But buddy Auston Matthews stuck up for him.
“He’s a mentally tough guy, I don’t worry about him. Sometimes it’s just the way it goes, right? The bounces go your way, the puck pops out and you have a wide open net. Then sometimes you have open looks and they’re just not going in. There’s not much you can do, keep working, keep shooting and on those chances the puck will turn the other way and go through.”
BLUE ON BLUE
The St. Louis Blues, who have a 50- plus year Stanley Cup drought to match the Leafs, now have similar odds to win this season’s trophy.
Bodog lists the Blues at 8-1 from 12-1, while Toronto rose to 8-1 from 7-1, despite a great month of November. Both teams remain second to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who stayed at 7- 1. Meanwhile, Bodog posted winger Brian Boeser, who plays the Leafs Saturday, as the favourite to win the Calder Trophy at 12- 5. Matthews is now listed at 14-1 to win the Rocket Richard goal scoring trophy, dropping off from 4-1.
LOOSE LEAFS
The Leafs entered December with eight man games lost to injury, a surprising stat ... Assistant general manager Mark Hunter is rarely with the big team, but broke from scouting duties to be with boss Lou Lamoriello in Edmonton before moving on ... No shot on goal was credited to Toronto when Russell unfortunately put the puck in his own net Thursday ... Tyler Bozak’s parents drove from Regina to Calgary to watch Tuesday’s game, then another two or three hours to Edmonton. “That’s nothing for them,” Bozak assured. “They never miss this trip.” ... Matthews won 14 of 19 playoffs on Thursday. Eight other Leafs who took draws won a combined 22.