A night for Leafs to dig in
Hyman takes control in the offensive zone, and power play scores twice
It was fitting that Zach Hyman was one of the more dominant puck possession players in the Maple Leafs’ 4-2 win over Edmonton on Friday night at the Scotiabank Arena.
In a game that featured a lot of perimeter play in the offensive zone by the Leafs, there was room for a puck retrieval expert like Hyman to stick out.
There were few others that stood out for anything entertaining in the offensive zone. Adam Brooks, in the lineup with Auston Matthews and Joe Thornton injured, scored his NHL first goal. And John Tavares tipped in a shot on the power play to give the Leafs a 3-2 lead in the third, his fourth goal of the season.
But Hyman, who does the hard work nightly, was the best Leaf on the ice.
He led all Leafs with 64 seconds of offensive zone puck possession, seven controlled zone entries and 23:18 of ice time.
Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe stressed in the pre-game that his club needed to get to the net more, and get to more pucks in front of the net.
While the Leafs did get bodies to the net, the shots they managed were kept to the outside by the Oilers, who did a solid job clogging lanes.
Keefe, though, could count on his power play, which went 2for-2. Both goals were tip-ins from the high slot. Toronto, 8for-18 overall, is the third most dangerous unit in the NHL.
The Leafs, who had less offensive zone time than an opponent for the first time this season, came to life after giving up a short-handed goal to Leon Draisaitl in the second period. Brooks scored on the same power play, with Jimmy Vesey wristing home a goal just under six minutes later off a steal behind the net by Alex Kerfoot and a smart setup from William Nylander.
Toronto had only one elite line — Tavares between Mitch Marner and Hyman — and that obviously altered the Leafs’ offence. Tavares led the club with two slot shots and four shots overall, followed by Hyman and Wayne Simmonds with three each.
Keefe felt Simmonds played “his best game as a Leaf.”
It took that kind of overall effort from the entire roster to get the win. With Matthews and Thornton sidelined, Toronto added Brooks, Pierre Engvall and Alex Barabanov from the taxi squad.
“With two-thirds of (the) top line out, we had to play differently,” Keefe said.
You look familiar: The Leafs and Oilers met twice in three nights (with seven more games this season), with a pre-series promise of offence and the entertainment of seeing Connor McDavid and Matthews work their magic.
McDavid tied the game 2-2 just 50 seconds into the third period. Normally, the Leafs could be criticized for not being ready to start a period in which they had the lead, But this was McDavid, who somehow reached backward, with Morgan Rielly checking him, and tipped a rising shot from the point. There was no defence for that.
Still, after six periods of play between the two teams, the anticipated fire show on offence did not materialize. Edmonton focused strongly on keeping shots to the outside and closing off shooting lanes, a sound game plan after losing two games prior to arriving in Toronto.
“This was two teams trying to improve defensively,” Keefe said.
Confidence building: Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen kicked out 30 of 32 shots, and was especially sharp in the first period when the Leafs were outshot 12-11, with eight of those shots coming from the slot.
The win was Andersen’s 139th as a Leaf, fourth in team history and one ahead of Curtis Joseph.