The GDB 56.0 Wrap Up: Leafs @ Oilers

8 years ago

First time Connor McDavid ~~played against~~ embarrassed his childhood team. Final Score: 5-2 Oilers

Tonight’s game truly was a tank battle for the ages. We had the Edmonton Oilers, who can’t get anything done with four first overall picks on the roster, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who haven’t been able to get anything done since there were only eight teams in the league. Regardless of who sucks worse (it can be a tight race) games like these have all the sexiness of poo stains in your gonch. As much as it’s fun to beak and chirp back and forth, Oilers and Leafs fans are both in the same miserable boat that seems destined to sink at any minute.

To start this game, it was the Oilers that looked like they were sinking. The Leafs (read: Marlies) absolutely dominated the play throughout the first period, and badly outshot the Oilers. It was embarrassing to watch. The Leafs were barely icing an NHL roster yet they still found a way to make the Oilers look like they should be relegated somehow. It was only by the grace of Gord that the Oilers picked up their level of play, but that start was unbelievable. I hope the Oilers buy their goalie a drink because if it weren’t for Cam Talbot the Oilers would have been out of this one early.

Fortunately for the Oilers, the Leafs are a much worse hockey team than they are (despite what LeafsNation thinks), and tonight’s game ended the way it should have considering the tanked roster iced by Toronto. First period aside, Edmonton was the better team. They produced chances, capitalized on those chances, and won a game they should have. It just so happened to be a huge bonus that Connor McDavid absolutely lit up the team whose fanbase, likely, wanted him the most last summer. Never have I been so satisfied to lick the sweet and salty tears from the digital faces of Leafs fans.

We wrap.

THE BRIGHT SIDE

I loved reading how salty Leafs fans still are about Connor McDavid being an Oiler, and it made my insides happy when he scored two goals (his eighth and ninth) and added three assists to twist the knife even further. He’s an Oiler now and Leafs Twitter should get over it. While I’m at it, you should probably get used to the idea of Stamkos signing literally anywhere else.
Jordan Eberle continues to produce playing next to Connor McDavid as he scored his first career hat trick. The Oilers really pushed for Eberle to get the third goal, and McDavid unselfishly gave him the puck to finish it off in the empty net.
The Pouliot-McDavid-Eberle line was hot fire tonight. Great night for that trio.
Brandon Davidson was rock solid again. He defends well, moves the puck better than most, and makes reasonable choices more often than not. It will be very interesting to see how Chiarelli handles his contract situation, this summer.
The power play scored a goal! THE POWER PLAY SCORED A GOAL! They went 1/5 on the night.
Cam Talbot was rock solid. If it weren’t for him, the Oilers could have been out of this game in the first period but he kept them in it and gave them a chance to win. Talbot finished the night with 34 saves and a .944 save%.
Have I fawned over Connor McDavid enough? What can you say about a kid that puts up five points in a game? Amazing. Incredible. All around sexy.

THE FACE PALMERS

The Oilers were outshot 13-4 in the first period. THIRTEEN TO FOUR! Ridiculous and completely unacceptable.
The Leafs ended up outshooting the Oilers 36-35 which is far too many shots for a team that bad.
The Oilers had pulled out to a 3-1 lead and they allowed the Leafs to score with under 30 seconds left in the second period. They need to eliminate those goals. They’ve been killing the Oilers all season.
Taylor Hall had a forgettable night to the point where Todd McLellan demoted him to the third line for a little bit. In actuality, the Hall-Draisaitl-Purcell line was fairly quiet for most of the night.
Why can’t the Oilers break out of their own zone? It’s amazing. Their only play is to dump it off the boards and hope to pick it up again.
Nail Yakupov is a man lost at sea right now. He couldn’t get anything going tonight and Todd McLellan played him as such.
Darnell Nurse took a couple of semi bad penalties in the second period after losing position on his man. He’ll figure it out as he plays more games, but you’d have to think that Todd McLellan will mention it.
The Oilers took way too many penalties (five) and they were lucky that the Leafs’ power play is worse than their own.

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST PERIOD
03:29	EDM	Connor McDavid (8) Wrist shot – ASST: Benoit Pouliot (17), Jordan Eberle (14)	1 – 0 EDM
08:06	TOR	Josh Leivo (2) Wrist shot – ASST: Martin Marincin (1)	1 – 1 Tie
2ND PERIOD
06:25	EDM	Jordan Eberle (16) Wrist shot – ASST: Connor McDavid (13), Benoit Pouliot (18)	2 – 1 EDM
18:36	EDM	PPG – Jordan Eberle (17) Wrist shot – ASST: Connor McDavid (14), Andrej Sekera (14)	3 – 1 EDM
19:45	TOR	Jake Gardiner (5) Backhand shot – ASST: Leo Komarov (17), Brad Boyes (10)	3 – 2 EDM
3RD PERIOD
13:55	EDM	Connor McDavid (9) Snap shot – ASST: Benoit Pouliot (19), Mark Fayne (2)	4 – 2 EDM
19:06	EDM	EN – Jordan Eberle (18) Backhand shot – ASST: Connor McDavid (15), Benoit Pouliot (20)	5 – 2 EDM

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