McElhinney puts on clinic against Oilers
Leafs’ backup goaltender steals the show
• Connor McDavid versus Auston Matthews on centre stage in Toronto was not to be, but McDavid against McElhinney turned out to be a good battle.
Curtis McElhinney, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ seldom- seen 34- year- old backup goalie, came up large against McDavid, the NHL MVP and young face of the game, in a wild 1- 0 win on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre.
Minus Matthews, who was sidelined with a possible head injury suffered the night before in Pittsburgh, and with No. 1 Frederik Andersen given the night off, McElhinney made his Leafbest 41 saves. He might have hearing loss from pucks hitting posts and crossbars, one during a full- term five- onthree Oilers power play in the second period, another during a stretch where he had no stick.
McDavid is f rom suburban Richmond Hill, Ont., and he has eight points in four games against his childhood team. The 20- year- old was deployed more than any player in the match, but it has been that kind of season for him and the sub-. 500 Oilers.
Sunday’s game ended a string of seven straight for the Leafs against some of the best individual players in the league, during which they won five to remain in range of division- leading Tampa Bay.
Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick against them back on Nov. 25, then they travelled to face top 10 scorer Johnny Gaudreau and the Calgary Flames, met McDavid in Edmonton two nights later and lost a close one to the Brock Boeser and the Vancouver Canucks before a one- goal win over the Flames and surviving Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on Saturday.
“The team has handled that well,” centre Nazem Kadri s ai d of c onstant diet of star power .“Everyone’s had a little more involvement and that gives people confidence. I want to play against the best — that’s why I dreamt of playing in the NHL.
“( Playing McDavid) is similar to Sid — try and stay above him,” Kadri added. “They like to use their speed in the neutral zone and try to generate offence through transition.
“As any skilled player, you don’t like running into guys left, right and centre. When there’ s someone always there, that’s frustrating. But he can burn you at any time.”
William Nylander was elevated from fourth line right wing to take Matthews’s spot between Zach Hyman and Connor Brown. It didn’t take Nylander long to make an impact. With room to run on the first shift, he froze the Oilers defence and found Jake Gardiner coming over the line. The latter’s drive squeaked through Laurent Brossoit’s pads.
Hyman didn’t disagree with an intermission TV question as to whether he slightly tipped the shot, and the goal was eventually given to him. Nylander picked up his 16th assist, the helpers coming steady despite just five goals with his limited ice time.
The second period began with a flurry by the Oilers, with McDavid getting some space while Matt Martin was serving the game’s first penalty.
When the advantage switched to Toronto f or consecutive minors and a brief five-on-three, McDavid was able to sneak away on a short-handed breakaway, only to be denied by McElhinney.
This was the 100th regular season meeting of the Leafs and Oilers. In the first of the previous 99, it was No. 99 Wayne Gretzky getting two assists in what would be a long and successful run against Toronto over the next 20 years.
But those present that night of Nov. 11, 1979, at Northlands recall Gretzky and the Oilers getting booed as the Leafs won 6- 3. Ron Ellis scored twice for the visitors.