I went back and looked at the four goals that Toronto scored when they beat Edmonton on December the 14th. Each goal, including the empty net goal were a result of miscommunications in the Oilers zone.
Alexander Kerfoot's goal was a result of Ryan Nugent Hopkins and James Neal failing to pick up Kerfoot in the slot.
Ilya Mikheyev scored because Ethan Bear didn't get off the ice after a long shift and was chasing the play and Zack Kassian and Leon Draisaitl were both skating away from the play as the Leafs picked up their own rebound with ease.
Frederik Gauthier scored because of a slow line change by Edmonton and once again Ethan Bear failed to pick up his man as Gauthier capitalized in front of the net.
Lastly the powerplay empy net goal scored by Marner was a combination of a ill-timed pass by Ethan Bear and Darnell Nurse being unaware a pass was coming to him.
Technically any goal in the NHL can be viewed as a mistake by one side, however each of the goals scored by Toronto in this game were caused by completely avoidable mistakes by the Edmonton Oilers.
Under Keefe the Toronto Maple Leafs have been a much better team, playing more to their strength; a quick transition and attack game and as a result the Leafs find themselves first in the league in EV goals.
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Despite a few shaky moments in the third period, Edmonton played a fairly strong road game against the Boston Bruins and the team will need to match and likely surpass that effort if they hope to win in Toronto... something this team hasn't done since 2010.
LINEUPS
OILERS
Neal-McDavid-Kassian RNH-Draisaitl-Yamamoto Nygard-Haas-Chiasson Khaira-Sheahan-Archibald
Klefbom- Larsson Nurse-Bear Jones-Russell
Smith
LEAFS
Hyman-Matthews-Marner Kerfoot-Tavares-Nylander Engvall-Spezza-Kapanen Marchment-Brooks-Gauthier
Rielly-Barrie Dermott-Ceci Marincin-Holl
Andersen
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3 KEYS TO VICTORY
1.) Third Time's The Charm? - Mike Smith was a huge reason why Edmonton was able to pull off an upset in Boston and even though starter Mikko Koskinen is healthy, having been ill the past few days, Tippett goes back to Smith once more. A key to Edmonton's early season success was having two goaltenders playing well and will need that again to stay in the playoff hunt.
2.) High Octane - Draisaitl and McDavid have both outscored anyone else on the Leafs roster but Toronto overall has more depth than the Oilers. Toronto has 6 players with at least 10 goals while Edmonton has only 4. Toronto has 8 players with over 20 points while Edmonton has 6. Every line Toronto sends over the boards is a scoring threat and regardless of the matchup, Edmonton needs to control their own zone.
3.) Continue Road Trip Success - So far the Oilers have 3 points in two games on this 5 game road trip and should have had 4 if they did not collapse against the Sabres. Last night Calgary came from behind to win against the Wild, keeping them tied with the Oilers for points. Edmonton needs to match that type of tenacity and work ethic and pull out some points tonight.