TORONTO – Ilya Mikheyev scored on a power play in the third period as the Toronto Maple Leafs filled more misery over the Edmonton Oilers with a 4-2 victory Wednesday night.
John Tavares and TJ Brodie also scored for Toronto (22-8-2). Jack Campbell made 28 saves as the Leafs improved to 20-4-1 in their last 25 games. William Nylander added two assists. Alexander Kerfoot froze him in the empty net and set up his team’s first goal.
Leon Draisaitl and Brendan Perlini answered for Edmonton (18-14-2), which earned 29 saves from Mike Smith. The Oilers led the Western Conference with a 16-5-0 record on Dec. 1, but are now 2-9-2 in their last 13 after a 0-3-2 road trip.
Edmonton was left without captain Connor McDavid, fellow center Derek Ryan and defender Tyson Barrie after all three were added to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. The Oilers also did not have forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (undisclosed), who was placed on injured reserve.
Meanwhile, the Leafs had Auston Matthews in the lineup following a COVID-19 scare that kept him out of practice Monday and Tuesday.
Smith, who was out for two months with an undisclosed injury, made just his sixth start from 2021-22 after missing the last two. That included Monday’s 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers in which head coach Dave Tippett criticized fellow goalkeeper Mikko Koskinen’s performance.
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Mikheyev scored his third goal of the season, and his third in the past two games since returning from wrist surgery on Dec. 14, beating Smith’s glove at 11:25 in the fourth period with a man lead. That broke a 2-2 tie after Oilers defender Slater Koekkoek put the puck right on the end post in a scrambled tie.
The desperate Oilers took Smith out late for an additional hitter, but Campbell closed the door before Kerfoot scored on the empty net.
Wednesday’s date had been marked on the calendar not only by McDavid’s annual trip to Toronto, except for the North Division last season when the Canadian teams played in a closed division, but also by the return of the former United States favorite. Leafs fans, Zach Hyman, after he switched to the Oilers in free agency.
Instead, the nationally televised game was played without the reigning NHL MVP and no atmosphere save for the noise of the canned crowd, and fans were unable to enter the Scotiabank Arena due to provincial COVID-19 restrictions in response to the fourth wave of the pandemic fueled by the fast-spreading Omicron. variant.
Toronto, which beat Edmonton 5-1 in the Alberta capital on December 14 before a coronavirus outbreak that affected 14 players and seven team employees at its peak, returned to action in impressive fashion with Saturday’s victory. 6-0 over the Ottawa Senators.
Hyman spent six seasons with the Leafs, winning over fans with his courage, hard work and determination before the Toronto native signed a seven-year, $ 38.5 million contract with Edmonton over the summer.
The Leafs opened the scoring at 4:25 of the first when Nylander’s shot from the late boards was deflected by Tavares and accidentally kicked into the Edmonton net by Smith. It was the 14th of the Toronto captain’s campaign, as the Oilers allowed the first goal for the 24th time this season, the most in the NHL.
The visitors responded at 9:58 when Colton Sceviour found Perlini in front of the race for his second.
Draisaitl then made it 2-1 just 1:14 later after sustained pressure from a pass from Kailer Yamamoto to bury his 26th league leader.
But the Leafs responded with 25.7 seconds left in the period when Brodie’s point shot hit the stick of Oilers defender Evan Bouchard for the blue-liner’s third of the season, and the third in as many games. .
The teams played a fairly low second event until Mitch Marner hit the Toronto post on a power play.
Edmonton’s Ryan McLeod then got a chance to give his team their first lead, but didn’t realize he had Campbell at his mercy before sliding a pass without looking at a crowd before Smith denied Nylander on a breakaway. things tied on the way to third.
Notes: Matthews and assistant coach Dean Chynoweth tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning. Each one tested negative in subsequent PCR tests and passed. … The Leafs open a four-game road trip in Colorado against Avalanche on Saturday. … Edmonton winger Zack Kassian came off protocol in time to face Toronto. … The Oilers are scheduled to host Ottawa on Monday when McDavid, Barrie and Ryan could be out of protocol.
This Canadian Press report was first published on January 5, 2022.
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Reference-globalnews.ca