EDMONTON — As pregame warmups winded down and all the Oilers had filed off the ice, one player remained alone, stickhandling around the dots and flipping pucks into an empty net.
Gradually, a roar began to swell from the multitudes of fans decked out in enemy blue and white. And by the time Auston Matthews finally skated to the dressing room, he’d received a hearty ovation. In Edmonton. Twenty minutes before puck drop.
Leafs Nation turned out to Rogers Place in giddy droves, punctuating Jack Campbell saves with bellowing “Sooooup!” calls and drowning out “Let’s go, Oilers!” chants with loud rounds of “Go! Leafs! Go!”
Unfortunately for the home side, the Oilers failed to execute a solid road game, and a half-crowd-pleasing 5-1 Toronto win extended Edmonton’s losing skid to six games.
A dialled-in Matthews reciprocated his fans’ love late in the first period, scoring with Leon Draisaitl in the box for roughing and extending his point streak to 10 games.
Matthews’ 19th bumped him up to third place in the goal race, trailing only Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, whose team’s offence has dried up.
Make that a 10-game point streak for Auston Matthews. pic.twitter.com/Ykkoxng20T
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 15, 2021
The Oilers appeared determined to claw their way back into the game in the second, firing the period’s first eight shots and pinning Toronto in its own zone.
But when the Leafs finally did muster a shot at the 8:47 mark — a crease-crasher from Wayne Simmonds — it went in the net.
A T.J. Brodie slapshot was redirected by McDavid and past Mikko Koskinen, increasing the lead to three and giving Brodie his first of the season and 50th of his career.
Colton Sceviour banged in his first as an Oiler, giving Edmonton a rare dose of bottom-six production, but Morgan Rielly struck right back for Toronto, thanks to a pretty William Nylander feed.
Rielly’s two-point night gives the defenceman 12 points in his past seven games and 22 in 22 since signing his monster eight-year extension.
Matthews sniped his 20th late in the third.
“They’re playing great hockey,” Leaf-turned-Oiler Tyson Barrie said. “They’ve really turned it around after a tough start, and they’re one of the top teams in the league.”
With Thursday’s game in Calgary postponed due to the Flames’ COVID outbreak, the Maple Leafs will travel to Vancouver and practice for a couple of days ahead of Saturday’s matinee against the Canucks.
Auston Matthews with an absolute ROCKET. pic.twitter.com/Ql086gdeuR
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 15, 2021
Fox’s Fast 5
• Forechecking presence Zach Hyman (shoulder) missed out on his first opportunity to face his former team.
“I’m sure the D will have a little bit of a sigh of relief going back for pucks,” Matthews said. “He’s an amazing guy, amazing teammate. Every single guy that has played with him probably can’t say enough good things about him.”
• McDavid skated one day with fellow “exceptional status” wunderkind Connor Bedard in Toronto this summer with Gary Roberts and the crew.
“First and foremost, just very impressed with his skill level, the way he shoots the puck, and it was eye-popping,” McDavid said.
Like McDavid, Bedard made Canada’s world junior squad at age 16.
“It’s an amazing thing he’s done, to make the team at such a young age. It’s exciting for everybody,” said McDavid, thinking back to his 2014 experience. “It’s your first games on the big stage. With that comes social media and lots of attention. For me and our team that year, things didn’t go that well [Canada finished fourth]. So, there’s lots of negativity around that. I remember it being difficult. So, I would say to go in and have fun. And maybe stay off social media for a bit because it can be a bit negative.”
• Justin Holl is really fighting it. At what point does coach Sheldon Keefe give veteran righty Alex Biega a look on the third pair? Is Saturday in Vancouver an option for the former Canuck?
• Jason Spezza’s suspension appeal was heard by Gary Bettman Tuesday. He’s already served four of his six games.
Victim Neal Pionk didn’t want to comment much on the hit: “It is what it is. The league made their decision.”
The Jets defenceman had more to say about his own knee that sidelined Rasmus Sandin.
“I’m not out there to hurt anybody,” Pionk told reporters in Winnipeg. “It made me sick to see him go off the ice and he’s limping off the ice. He’s a great young defenceman. I never want to cut his career short, even by a game. There’s remorse there and definitely not intent on the hit.”
• Following a big snowfall in Edmonton overnight, McDavid was asked if he gets up and shovels in the morning.
“I’m lucky enough to have a heated driveway,” McDavid replied.
Simmonds got a kick out of McDavid’s wintertime flex.
“No heated driveway. Connor’s a boss,” Simmonds smiled. “We’re lucky enough to have a snowplow guy come by and help us out a little bit there. Because generally, if I’m on the road, it’s just my wife at home. So, she can’t be doing a driveway.”
