On Tuesday night, two of the better Canadian teams in the NHL squared off between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers. Toronto absolutely dominated and punched Edmonton in the mouth for 60 minutes in a 5-1 win.
Auston Matthews scored twice for the Maple Leafs. He has now scored 20 goals on the year for Toronto. They are playing with an edge and a defensive-minded identity right now. This hockey team is gritty. The Toronto Maple Leafs can get goal-scoring outside of their big three in Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, and John Tavares.
When the Edmonton Oilers don’t have Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl scoring, this hockey team is completely useless. Their surrounding cast is completely garbage at the moment.
Jack Campbell recorded 35 saves for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was outstanding. Campbell is something the Edmonton Oilers wish they had in net right now. Toronto fans were chanting his name in the stands last night on the road. It felt like a Toronto home game and Edmonton’s fanbase should be completely ashamed of themselves. They were punked every which way.
An Oilers fan even threw an Oilers jersey on the ice.
Their defense did not have much to defend it. Tyson Barrie was MIA all night long for Edmonton.
Morgan Reilly was excellent for Toronto and he also scored a goal in the third period.
Mikko Koskinen only recorded 20 saves for the Edmonton Oilers. He is horrendous every time I watch him on television. They need to go out and get either Anton Khudobin from the Dallas Stars or Semyon Varlamov from the New York Islanders.
As of right now in the NHL standings, the Toronto Maple Leafs are currently in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 20-8-2 record with 42 points.
The Edmonton Oilers are in complete danger of falling out of a playoff spot. They are currently in fourth place in the Pacific Division with a 16-11-0 record with 32 points so far this season.
Toronto’s next game will be on Saturday, December 18th on the road against a red-hot Vancouver Canucks (13-15-2 record with 28 points).
Edmonton’s next game will be on Thursday, December 16th at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets (14-12-1 record with 29 points).
-Glenn Kaplan, 12oz Sports Contributor, Live Monday’s at 3 p.m. ET & Thursday at 11 a.m. ET on 12oz Sports
Photo Credit: Twitter @MapleLeafs
