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Toronto Maple Leafs Win Without Auston Matthews

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO,ON - JANUARY 20: Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs watches for a corner shot against the Edmonton Oilers during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on January 20, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Oilers defeated the Maple Leafs 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO,ON - JANUARY 20: Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs watches for a corner shot against the Edmonton Oilers during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on January 20, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Oilers defeated the Maple Leafs 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs got revenge on the Edmonton Oilers Friday night with a 4-2 win at home.

I know we’re only five games in, but this game was huge for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs lost to the Oilers on Wednesday, in what was probably their worst games of the season.  With injuries mounting, it would be interesting to see how they responded.

After learning that Auston Matthews would miss this game, the anxiety thickened. Thankfully, the team rallied around his and Joe Thornton’s injury and came through with a victory.

Let’s breakdown the good, bad and ugly from last night’s game.

The Good, Bad and The Ugly

Good:

  • Bend, Don’t Break
    • The Leafs once again couldn’t keep Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl off the score-sheet, but at least it didn’t cost them. Although both players scored goals, they shut the rest of the Oilers down defensively, only allowing two goals.
  • Freddie Andersen
    •  Andersen stopped 30 of 32 shots and had a great night overall. Even the two goals he allowed were acceptable. The first tally was a terrible giveaway in front while the Leafs were on the powerplay, which was completely unexpected. The second goal was an incredible tip by McDavid, which almost every goaltender in the world wouldn’t have a chance to stop.
  • Adam Brooks
    • Congrats to Adam Brooks who scored his first career goal last night. I’m sure he’ll tell his grandkids that he deked the goaltender and went bar-down, instead of telling them the truth that a Jason Spezza slap-pass randomly directed off his skate and went into the back of the net. Regardless, it’s great to see the rookie on the scoresheet.
  • John Tavares
    • Imagine being so good that a “down-year” for you is scoring 26 goals in the NHL? That’s a 34-goal pace in an 82 game season. Anyways, if there are still any haters left, JT is proving them wrong with his incredibly hot start to the season. With Auston Matthews out of the line-up, Tavares led the way scoring the game-winning goal.

Bad: 

  • Alexander Barabanov 
    • I’m probably knit-picking at this point because overall the Leafs played great. Either way, I just wasn’t sold on the fourth-line tonight and Barabanov in general. It’s tough to make an impression with 7:55 TOI, but from a pure eye-test perspective, he didn’t really do anything that jumped out. I’d like to see more of him because I think he can be an asset to this team.

Ugly: 

  • Pre-Game Show
    • I don’t typically watch the pre-game show for a Leafs game but on a Friday night during a pandemic, there’s not much else to do. I love the broadcast team in general, but tonight’s pre-game show was tough to watch. Let’s just say I won’t be tuning in early to watch a Leafs game anytime soon because a “Be-Leaf it or Not” segment is completely amateur.

With Matthews out of the lineup, it was great to see the team step up and get a win that they desperately needed. Also, it’s incredibly nice to know that McDavid or Draisaitl have yet to put up a monster game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in two match-ups.

Next. Auston Matthews Injury Would Devastate Leafs. dark

Toronto heads west to face Calgary on Sunday and then they’ll be back against the Oilers, so we won’t have to wait much longer for a McDavid vs. Matthews rematch, after we missed it last night.

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