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Success on the road, Leafs shut down Oilers; New Sunday Convo

December 15, 2019, 10:16 AM ET [657 Comments]
Mike Augello
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Save for three minutes In the third period in Calgary, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a very successful road trip, going 3-1 and earning six of a possible eight points. The Leafs finished up their Western Canada road swing with a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

Alex Kerfoot, Ilya Mikheyev, Frederik Gauthier and Mitch Marner scored, Frederik Andersen made 36 saves for his 16th victory of the season and 200th of his NHL career, and the Leafs were able to limit the Oilers dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to one assist and three shots on goal.



“We knew we had to be ready for their top line, especially those two guys. We know how dynamic they are, they don’t need much.” Leafs captain John Tavares said after the game. “We just tried to play a good, smart road game and take care of the puck, play with it. Create our opportunities and then defend well when we had to so. (It was a) good job by everyone.”

Toronto weathered the Oilers attempt at imposing their physical will throughout the game, and got their offense from unexpected sources, as the third line of Kerfoot, Mikiheyev and Pierre Engvall provided the Leafs with a pair of goals. Kerfoot opened the scoring early in the first period with his first goal in 13 games on a setup from Engvall. The duo combined again in the middle frame on Mikheyev’s 5th of the season (his first in 22 games), and after Alex Chiasson scored to narrow the lead to 2-1, the fourth line combo of Dmytro timashov and Gauthier combined for “The Goat”’s first tally in 26 games.

“(The Kerfoot line) were great. They just skated, they worked, they made plays, They attacked the net. There was a lot of really good things they were doing.” Head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “It's a good sign for our team just with three guys like that, that skate the way they do and work. I felt comfortable no matter who they were on the ice against, even if it was McDavid.”



The Leafs played short-handed for most of the game after losing defenseman Tyson Barrie in the first period. Barrie was hit by a Gaetan Haas wrist shot on the left skate and left for the dressing room. The blueliner tested out his ankle during a TV timeout and before the second period, but could not return. Down to five defensemen, Keefe relied heavily on the pairing of Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl against the McDavid line.



Muzzin led the club in ice time with 27:01, Holl played over 26 minutes, and Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci were over 20 minutes on the night.

“Our guys did a great job. Hollsy was great. I thought Muzzin was outstanding and really competitive. [Rielly], [Ceci], everybody was really good.” Keefe said.

After the game, Keefe indicated that the x-rays on Barrie were negative, but that he did not feel comfortable enough to return. With the Leafs off on Sunday, a further diagnosis of the injury will likely not be forthcoming until Monday.

Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston indicated on HNIC's Saturday Headlines that the extent of Barrie's injury might have an effect on the Leafs making prospect Rasmus Sandin available to Team Sweden in the upcoming World Juniors in the Czech Republic later this month.

Sandin played six games for the Leafs earlier this season, and it is assumed that Toronto does not want the 19-year-old to eclipse the 10-game mark and start the clock on his entry-level deal this season, but if Barrie is out long term, the choices to fill his spot are limited to Martin Marincin, Timothy Liljegren, or Kevin Gravel.

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