In Edmonton, Jimmy Vesey scored the game’s first two goals to help lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 6-1 win over the Oilers on Wednesday night.
The one goal against on Wednesday night was the first in the three-game set between the two clubs.
“I thought it was a really good road trip for our team, Edmonton was red hot coming in and were chasing us in the standings,” Vesey said. “To win three games like that so decisively, I think it’s a real step of growth for our team.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins broke the string of scoreless minutes with a goal in the middle frame after the Leafs had taken a 4-0 lead.
“We just didn’t win any battles,” the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl said. “There were so many scrums and we just seemed to never get the puck out of them, and if you don’t win battles it’s tough to draw penalties.”
Frederik Andersen made 26 saves in his return to the crease after an lower body injury sidelined him in early February.
“I felt pretty good,” Andersen said. “I think working hard to get back and obviously in the last few days felt like I was inching closer to get back. Felt pretty good right away, and the guys did a good job of just keeping them to the outside in the first period, especially, and taking it to them a little bit more. That was helpful.”
John Tavares’ power-play goal in the second period made it 3-0 after the Vesey goals
Ilya Mikheyev extended the lead to 4-0 before the Oilers finally got on the board.
“Obviously we feel really good about the results and how we handled leads and built leads,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “A lot of really good things came out of this series for us. Coming in, we were playing against a very good team that was as hot or hotter than any team in the NHL and coming with lots of confidence. For us to get results like this is a good and healthy sign.”
In the third period, William Nylander struck for a goal to make it 5-1.
“We just didn’t win enough battles to push the game along,” Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. “Critical battles at the wrong time and coming back and defending hard. Give them credit, they defended hard, they won a lot of battles and they won the games.”
Zach Hyman punched in a power-play marker midway through the final frame for the 6-1 final.
“It’s amazing when you win hockey games how everybody finds a way to get involved and that’s what I’m a product of right now,” Toronto’s Jason Spezza said. “We played good, disciplined hockey here and we have to keep going.”
The Oilers were outscored 13-1 in the three games.
Mike Smith made 26 saves in the loss.
“For whatever reason we couldn’t figure those guys out and they had us pretty figured out,” Edmonton’s s Connor McDavid said. “We have to move on to the next one, we have a pretty big one against Calgary (Flames), back to the Battle of Alberta (on Saturday) and then three against an Ottawa (Senators) team that is playing very, very well. This is a big point in our season for us.”
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