Maple Leafs forward William Nylander beats Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner and extends his goal streak to five games on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Steve Russell / Toronto Star
It would probably be too much to ask for the Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers to meet in the Stanley Cup final.
Both teams have enough high-end talent, though neither has had much playoff success in the past eight seasons. But considering the star power of Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid and the crisp, fast, skilled, edgy, physical and unpredictable way Saturday night’s game played out, a Cup final between the teams could be entertaining and invigorating.
The Leafs scored early and often, then withstood a third-period push by the Oilers and held on for a 6-3 win at Scotiabank Arena.
“It’s that time of year, that style of hockey,” Leafs captain John Tavares said. “It was a real good game by us.”
In a game with expensive stars on both sides, Bobby McMann and Pontus Holmberg were Toronto’s scoring heroes with two goals each.
It was probably sweetest for McMann, who grew up an Oilers fan in Wainwright, Alta., with fond memories of Ales Hemsky and Edmonton’s 2006 trip to the Cup final.
“That was pretty sweet,” McMann said. “Playing against Edmonton, watching them growing up and the quality of team that they are, it’s special for us to win.”
But the versatile Holmberg was right there. He is getting a chance in a top-six role in the absence of Tyler Bertuzzi (illness), Mitch Marner (high ankle sprain) and Calle Järnkrok (hand
Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov was having a fantastic game until, with 3:39 to go, he left seemingly favouring his right arm after spread-eagling on a Leon Draisaitl shot that turned into Edmonton’s final goal.
“Your stomach kind of drops,” McMann said. “You don’t want to see that happen. So I really hope it’s something minor, or just a tweak or something, because I want to see him back. He’s great for us back there.”
McMann — and every fan chanting “Sammy Sammy” throughout the game — got their wish.
“Looks like he’s going to be fine,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said, without providing further details. “It’s not anything near what it appeared, or what I thought it might have been.”
The game featured all four goalies. The Leafs chased Stuart Skinner, who was replaced by Calvin Pickard to start the third period, while Martin Jones came in to replace Samsonov.
Joseph Woll will start Sunday in Carolina.
It’s not like the Leafs’ big names did nothing against the Oilers. William Nylander had a goal and an assist, and is on his third five-game goal scoring streak of the season.
Captain John Tavares had two assists, giving him four straight multi-point games.
And Matthews scored his 58th goal of the season into an empty net as he chases 60 for the second time.
The game also had a physical side. Joel Edmundson hit McDavid early in the first. Jake McCabe got in a big hit on Draisaitl. Simon Benoit threw his weight around. The Oilers’ Darnell Nurse drew a 10-minute misconduct for some after-the-whistle shenanigans. And Max Domi and Mattias Janmark traded blows in the third period. Domi finished a goal shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick.
“I thought our group was engaged right off the bat,” McCabe said. “(Edmundson) set the tone for us and we all carried it through, all 20 guys in the lineup, intense and urgent. The urgency was high. It was just a really good effort.”
Shaq Hyman
As if there wasn’t enough to love about the matchup, there was also Hyman’s pursuit of 50 goals. You could tell by the way he smiled, and by the look in his eye, that Keefe was proud.
When I was with the Marlies, we called him Shaq Hyman for a reason, because he got to the paint more and better than anybody. And now he’s playing with the guy that gets the puck to the paint and tilts the ice more than anybody, maybe in the history of the game. So, it’s a good fit.
“He works to get to the right places and he’s getting rewarded for it.”
Hyman’s effort was never questioned, but the idea of him scoring at this rate was a long shot. He left the Leafs as a free agent and is in his third season in Edmonton. He has no regrets.
“It’s obviously worked out as best as it possibly could have worked out,” Hyman said.
But there’s friendship, and then there’s competition.
“It’s been lots of fun seeing him having great success there in Edmonton, as a friend,” Nylander said before the game. “It’s fun to play against him, too. I mean, he’s two (goals) from 50, so not tonight.”
Hyman got one goal, but not two.
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