‘We know we’re a better team’: Maple Leafs’ depth, defence too much for Oilers

TORONTO — Saturday was billed as a showdown between superstars Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid, owners of the past three Rocket Richard trophies.

Or, perhaps, an opportunity for The One That Got Away, Zach Hyman, to score his 50th in the same barn he forechecked through his first six NHL seasons. (So close … he got his 49th.)

The hockey gods had other plans, however, as the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ supporting cast stole the show in a surprisingly decisive 6-3 beatdown of the Edmonton Oilers.

If this were a measuring-stick game, Bobby McMann (two goals, one assist, plus-3) and Pontus Holmberg (two goals, including the winner, plus-3) sneaked vaulting poles into Scotiabank Arena.

Despite being down three top-six forwards for what Matthews had framed as “a good test” against a legitimate Cup contender — Mitch Marner (high ankle), Calle Järnkrok (hand), and Tyler Bertuzzi (illness) — Toronto’s fill-ins showed up and delivered under the bright lights.

“There’s more eyes on the game. More people watching. It makes it that much bigger,” McMann said pre-game.

An Oilers diehard raised in Wainwright, Alta., McMann grew up an Ales Hemsky fan. He bled Blue and Orange during Edmonton’s heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2006 Cup Final. And he can still recall his delight seeing new hope Jordan Eberle’s breathtaking first NHL goal in 2010. (“What a first one to score,” McMann beamed.)

So, to snipe a pair of beauties himself against his boyhood club with all his friends back home tuned into Edmonton’s road game?

“I hope they’re happy for me and not too worried about the Oilers losing that one,” McMann smiled.

“We came out with an attitude that we know we’re a better team, and we want to dictate the play from the start. I think we did that. Proud of us for that. Yeah, they have some skilled players, and they pushed back a little bit. But we took it to them enough that it didn’t matter.”

Bingo.

The Maple Leafs blended opportunistic offence and slick playmaking — John Tavares has been excellent at generating Grade-A chances lately, and William Nylander executed a slick tip-in — with a staunch defensive posture.

They built such a wide lead — 5-zip after 40 minutes, chasing starter Stuart Skinner in the process — that McDavid’s three assists and Edmonton’s two power-play goals in the third period weren’t enough.

Because Edmonton opted to load up its top unit, stacking McDavid’s wings with Hyman and Leon Draisaitl, Toronto narrowed its focus to shutting down the Big 3.

“We talked about it at the start the night,” defenceman Jake McCabe said. “They loaded up their first line, and we just said, ‘We want our depth to carry us through.’ And show that we have better depth, which ended up being the difference.

“The urgency was high.”

And the defensive execution was on point, as the Leafs used layers in the neutral zone to sap the Oilers’ speed and hard boxouts to limit second chances around Ilya Samsonov’s crease.

McDavid & Co. couldn’t score 5-on-5, which frustrated Darnell Nurse to the point where the D-man took a 10-minute misconduct for unnecessary roughing.

And while a feel-good night in Leafland was temporarily undercut by a Samsonov injury scare — he hobbled off the ice late after stretching awkwardly during a save attempt — coach Sheldon Keefe alleviated injury concern post-game.

“It’s not anything near what it appeared,” Keefe announced. “Looks like he’ll be fine.”

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These Maple Leafs will be fine, too, if they get more performances like Saturday’s from their depth forwards and committed defenders without the puck.

Toronto blocked more than twice as many shots as the Oilers (28-11) and outhit Edmonton 34-31.

“It wasn’t just the contacts. It was level of competitiveness on the pucks, the battles to come up with pucks. A lot of that on the penalty kill, faceoff scrums, all those kinds of things where we’re coming up with pucks. That’s what we need,” Keefe said.

“When we make those decisions to play that way against a team like that, for our team to be capable of great things, efforts like that bring up the group,” Keefe said. “And then you can get by without some key people.

“That’s what you like to see.”

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• Man, when one half of every D pairing — McCabe, Joel Edmundson, and Simon Benoit — plays with a physical edge, it’s a completely different look.

Hard and purposeful trumps soft and purposeless every time.

“Frankly, we play our best when we’re playing physical and we’re playing fast like that,” McCabe said. “It just keeps everyone engaged and on our front foot.”

Edmundson threw a hard hit on McDavid, got under Draisaitl’s skin, and was awarded the player-of-the-game belt.

“Just a big body in the back end that likes to throw it around, and it’s contagious,” McCabe said. “People feed off it. Eddy set the tone for us tonight.”

• T.J. Brodie continues to be a healthy scratch as the Leafs plan to bring a reenergized veteran defenceman back with some mental clarity.

“We and he acknowledge that he can be better. We need him at his best. So, if we have to take a step back in order for that to be the case, then that’s what we’ll do,” Keefe explains. “I just need him to clear his head.”

“He’s a very, very important piece of our team. When he’s at his best, he’s as good a defender as we have and as reliable and consistent as we have. So, we gotta get him to that.”

• McDavid recently binged the second season of Netflix’s Full Swing and appreciates how sports docuseries have boosted the profile of golf and F1 racing.

He says he wouldn’t mind cameras following him around “within reason” as part of Amazon’s upcoming series on NHL stars.

“All of us hockey guys are open to growing the game, and that’s part of it,” McDavid said. “Our privacy is still important.

“If we want to grow the game, it’s something we have to look at.”

• During Hyman’s first season as a pro hockey player, he was dubbed “Shaq Hyman” by then-Toronto Marlies assistant coach A.J. MacLean.

“Because he got to the paint more and better than anybody,” Keefe recalled, with a smile.

“And now he’s playing with a guy who gets the puck to the paint and tilts the ice more than anybody maybe in the history of the game. So, it’s a good fit. He works to get to the right places, and he’s getting rewarded for it.”

• Joseph Woll starts in goal Sunday in Carolina.

For the remaining 12 games on Toronto’s schedule, expect an even split in starts (roughly six apiece) between he and Samsonov as the internal competition to get the nod in Game 83 heats up.

“Going forward,” Keefe said, “it’s probably going to even out.

“Definitely have confidence in both guys — and I would put Martin Jones in that conversation.”

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