4 takeaways from Maple Leafs earning a dominant 7-2 over the Oilers

The Toronto Maple Leafs won their fourth in a row and gave the Edmonton Oilers just their second loss in regulation with a 7-2 win on Saturday night.

Jack Roslovic, Auston Matthews, Troy Stecher, William Nylander, Zack MacEwen, and Vinni Lettieri all scored for the blue and white. Anthony Stolarz made 30 saves on 32 shots.

Back in the days when they were a great regular-season team but couldn't get it done in the playoffs, it seemed like a yearly ritual to be on the lookout for what might be "different" about the Maple Leafs. It could be their physicality, or their goaltending, or depth, or whatever. We were always wondering why the upcoming season would be different.

I know, Leaf fans. There is a wall built around our hearts so we don't get hurt again. But there's something about this group, and we saw it again on Saturday night.

Here are four takeaways from the night that was.

Maple Leafs looking more like a team every day

It's a new leaf in Toronto. No pun intended. Everything is different. From the roster to the front office, you don't have to look too hard to figure out what's new. The only thing that's the same, for the most part, is the leadership group on the ice, and right now, it's hard to deny that this looks and feels different.

"The vibes are great," Stolarz said after the game on Saturday. "We got a great group, and influx of kids that have a lot of energy, and they're really bringing out the best in everyone. It's an exciting time to be a Maple Leaf."

"You recognize the challenge you're going up against and you need everybody on board to meet that challenge," Matthews said. "It's not pretty at time, but we stuck with it. Penalty killing was great, defence was great, Stolarz was great, and we were able to put the puck in the net when we needed to."

General manager John Chayka still needs to find some reinforcements for the blue line. But for now, this group is doing a heck of a job, and they have been all week. Connor McDavid is leading the league in points by a mile, and Leon Draisaitl is tied for the league lead in goals after a two-goal performance on Saturday. However, the defence held them both to two points, which were scored when the Leafs were up 3-0 and 5-1.

"Everybody played well, the goalie, too," head coach Jim Hiller said. "We had some really good saves, we had some really good shot blocks. They had their looks, no question, but I thought we had a pretty good team effort without the puck."

One thing that makes this a total team effort, at least for me, is that ice time was really even across the board. Matthews led the forwards with 17:13, and MacEwen was the only forward to play less than 10 minutes, at 9:39. On defence, everyone played between 18 and 22 minutes, except for Stecher, who led the d-men with 24:21

Ex-Oilers have a night for Toronto

There were a ton of storylines heading into Saturday night. Ex-Leafs head coach Mike Babcock coached his first game against his former team; Roslovic and Stecher returned to Edmonton after stints with the Oilers; and, of course, the ancient storyline of Zach Hyman playing against his former team. On Saturday, it was the former Oilers who had the last laugh.

Jack Roslovic had a goal and an assist, and Troy Stecher had a goal on three shots.

"I enjoyed my time here, learned a lot," Roslovic said. "You always want to come back and play a good game.

"Playing with a little edge. A little special for me, but at the end of the day it's still a game for our team. Just liking the way we're all playing the right way."

Roslovic is now tied with Easton Cowan for fifth in team scoring, and Hiller credits a lot of that to Roslovic's history with Matthews.

"The relationship he has with Auston is a really important part of it, Hiller said.

Stecher now has goals in each of his last two games, and continues to be leaned on with important minutes.

"I played parts of three years here," Stecher said on Saturday. "I have a lot of friendships on the other side, so it was nice to get one.

"The minutes have increased, but I haven't changed my preparation or my focus. I've always believed in myself, and I know I can play at a high level.

MacEwen and Lettieri score first of the season

It may be insignificant in the context of the game, but it was a big night for MacEwen and Lettieri, as they both scored their first goal of the season.

MacEwen's was a bit more significant, as his goal at 13:39 of the third period officially put the game out of reach.

"You can tell the energy in here is infectious," MacEwen said. "The guys are really gelling well. Everybody loves coming to the rink and getting together. When everybody's doing their job and we're playing like we are, it's just fun to come to the rink, fun to compete and play, and obviously get wins."

Nylander scores 300th NHL goal

With his second goal of the game, an empty-netter to make it 6-2, Nylander is now sixth in Leafs history with 300 goals. He was tied with Rick Vaive, who had 299.

Nylander is 32 goals behind Ron Ellis (332), whom he could pass this season, and 65 behind Dave Keon (365). Darryl Sittler is third in franchise history in scoring with 389 goals, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if Nylander surpasses him as well in the next few seasons.

I wrote about this earlier this week regarding Matthews' pursuit of 800 points, and the same applies to Nylander. We get caught up in playoff disappointment, and that disappointment is real. However, it's amazing what these two guys have done year after year, and now that Matthews is officially "back", there's no sign of either of these guys slowing down.

Up next for the Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs continue their trip out West against the Calgary Flames on Monday night. They will be in Seattle on Wednesday to take on the Kraken and will wrap it up against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

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