Game Notes: Maple Leafs @ Oilers — Game 25

After back-to-back shutout losses at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Oilers will need to win tonight in order to avoid getting swept in this three-game mini-series. Here are your game day notes.

1. A few days ago, this head-to-head series between the Leafs and Oilers was being dubbed as a battle for the North Division, an opportunity for Edmonton to show Toronto that they belonged in the conversation for Canada’s top team. On Saturday morning, the Oilers sat only two points back of the Leafs in the standings and now they could wind up 10 points back if they don’t salvage the series and win on Wednesday night. Toronto also has a game in hand.

2. These two losses to the Leafs represent Edmonton’s first back-to-back losses since Jan. 26 and Jan. 28. They lost 6-to-4 to Winnipeg (this was the game after Leon Draisaitl’s last-second walk-off) and then lost again a couple of nights later to Toronto by a score of 4-to-3. After that, Edmonton earned a gutsy win against the Leafs and proceeded to go on their 11-wins-in-13-games streak. A win tonight will make it easier to put these two frustrating losses in the rearview mirror and begin another good stretch.

3. You have to go back to October of 2019 to find the last time the Oilers were shut out in back-to-back games. Their ninth and tenth games of the 2019-20 season featured a 1-to-0 shootout loss to the Jets and then a 3-to-0 loss to the Wild. They got shut out a total of four times that season, and these two losses to Toronto represent the only times they’ve been shut out in 2021.

4. As frustrating as these two losses have been, they don’t erase what the Oilers accomplished over the past few weeks. Edmonton is still a playoff team in this division and they’re still in the mix to finish second or third in the standings. That said, the reality is the Oilers have been outclassed by a better team here. Toronto has clearly established itself as the top Canadian team. Shutting out the Oilers, one of the league’s most dangerous teams offensively, in back-to-back games without Freddy Andersen and Auston Matthews playing is very impressive. You have to give credit where it’s due.

5. Edmonton now sits in third place in the Canadian Division with 28 points through 24 games. Winnipeg beat Vancouver on Tuesday night and is now one point above the Oilers with a couple of games in hand. At this point, I would say Edmonton’s big focus is finishing ahead of the Jets and earning themselves home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

6. Through 24 games last season, the Oilers had a 14-7-3 record, which is the exact same wins and losses total as the 14-10 record they have now, but minus the three Bettman loser points. All things considered, if you were told back in early-January that the 2021 Oilers would match the 2019-20 Oilers through 24 games, you’d be happy with that result.

7. Dave Tippett is shaking things up in order to give the team a spark. Just about everybody has been crying for it to happen, and it seems Tippett has listened. The Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, Kailer Yamamoto line that was so dynamite for the team last season has been reunited. Jesse Puljujarvi remains on Connor McDavid’s right while James Neal, it appears, replaces Nugent-Hopkins on his left.

8. The “DRY line” was instrumental in Edmonton’s second-half success last season. The team got off to a hot start in October and through most of November but cooled and started falling in the standings come December. On New Year’s Eve, Kailer Yamamoto made his season debut playing alongside Draisaitl and Joakim Nygard. Shortly after that, Nugent-Hopkins was moved to the line’s left wing and the trio caught fire.

Starting with a 7-to-5 win against the New York Rangers, the Oilers went on a streak in which they lost in regulation only once in 11 games. That stretch completely wiped out the bad month they had in December.

9. As I said, the DRY Line was huge for Edmonton’s success during that run and for the rest of the 2019-20 season before things were paused due to the pandemic. In 317:37 together at even-strength, this trio outscored opponents by a whopping 28-to-8. I have very few qualms with Tippett, but not keeping this trio together in the play-in round against Chicago was bewildering.

10. I’m glad to see the DRY Line back together, but I’m not sure if Neal is The Answer on McDavid’s left. Neal and McDavid played 225:42 together at even-strength in 2019-20 and were outscored 11-to-8. Of course, with Zack Kassian on the Injured Reserve and Dominik Kahun listed as unfit to practice on Tuesday, there aren’t many options to stick on this line. Both Tyler Ennis and Josh Archibald could fit but they’ve been playing well on the third line with Jujhar Khaira.

10. On the other side, according to those donkeys our friends over at The Leafs Nation, Auston Matthews is still questionable for tonight’s game and William Nylander didn’t practice on Tuesday, meaning he could also be out of the lineup. Jack Campbell won’t be starting so we’ll either see Freddy Andersen return from injury or third-string Michael Hutchinson start again.

Tuesday’s Leafs practice also featured Zach Bogosian and Scott Sabourin showing Travis Dermott some fighting moves, which is surely a response to him getting a few whacks from Josh Archibald in the dying seconds of Monday’s game.