3 Leafs-Oilers picks: Connor McDavid’s extraordinary skill and speed, another third-period hiccup

Toronto’s leaders, aside from Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, were nowhere to be seen after the game. And whether intentional or not, it was a theme in head coach Craig Berube’s postgame speech. William Nylander is excused, as Berube revealed he was playing at 75 percent due to illness, which made for a terrible performance overall.

“In the third period, it was two games in a row at home where we were level. That’s the starting point for me. Whatever it is, we should have come out and dictated how we’re going to play that period and how we wanted to play it,” Berube said.

Morgan Rielly and Scott Laughton shared the same assessment as their head coach after the game.

“It’s hard to understand, we just have to be better,” Laughton said. “We have to manage games better in certain situations. You see those guys, you know how good they are at certain moments, and it can get you excited so quickly. We just have to know. We don’t have to make the perfect play every team, it’s a 60-minute game for a reason. You have to wear the team down and go the other way, play north, let them come to you. I don’t think we’ve done that enough.”

“It’s not that different from the San Jose game,” Rielly said. “If you go into the third period in a good position and you don’t execute, you’re not playing the way you should to win the game.”

Easton Cowan, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Steven Lorentz all scored for the Maple Leafs, going down the stretch in a thorough 6-3 loss.

Here are three takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 6-3 loss to the Oilers:

Welcome to the Connor McDavid Show

If you haven’t heard, Connor McDavid is extremely good at hockey. McDavid’s speed, processing ability and world-class skill were on full display against the Maple Leafs, and he dominated the game from the start of the game.

McDavid scored the opening goal of the game, capitalizing on a turnover as only he could. Evan Bouchard intercepted an errant pass from Nicolas Roy and saw McDavid cut through the centre. Three steps further and McDavid was gone. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was caught looking the other way through the neutral zone, but this is pedantic. McDavid made the Leafs look downright stationery on the way to the net and tucked the ball home for a highlight reel. And this was just foreshadowing.

McDavid also proved during the second period that the adage “you have to be good to be lucky” is true. McDavid burst into the offensive zone and threw a speculative puck at the net, and Troy Stecher accidentally ended the game with an own goal.

The Edmonton captain is also an exceptional playmaker, and he did a great job of reading the game for his teammates seemingly every shift. McDavid has a real gravity effect, and when he left in transition, the Leafs were on their heels, jockeying for position. Flying through the zone, McDavid shook off Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Simon Benoit before sliding the puck to Leon Draisaitl. Darnell Nurse was wide open and tipped the puck into the net.

It was a great performance for McDavid, well worth the price of admission for the fans in attendance. He made excellent defensive plays and cleared the puck away from Matthew Knies, which could have led to a potential game-changing goal.

This is the kind of game where the eye test reigns supreme. Connor McDavid proved he’s the best player in the world during a homecoming celebration, where he dominated the pre-game storylines. That was him the story on Saturday. It was a damn great show.

Troy Stecher’s own goal is his first major blunder with the Maple Leafs

McDavid flew into the offensive zone and took a big angle against Jake McCabe and drove to the net. McDavid explored his options and threw a dangerous pass across the goalmouth, which Stecher directed into his own net. You could see the pain on Stecher’s face from the press box, and he immediately apologized to Hildeby for the mistake.

Stecher was clearly forgiven by his teammates, which of course would happen, but he has exceeded expectations to say the least and this was his first glaring mistake at the club.

“Shit happens. He does the right thing and tries to put it away,” Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby said. “I think I could have kept my stick behind the door in the first place. It’s just a shame.”

Artur Akhtyamov makes first appearance in the NHL after Dennis Hildeby took third place

Berube made it clear that Hildeby was not withdrawn due to poor performance.

Joseph Woll could potentially be an option for Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks if he is cleared to play by the team. Woll spoke highly of Hildeby and Akhtyamov during Friday’s practice, and the Leafs certainly boast internal confidence about all of their goalies. Will Akhtyamov make the first start of his NHL career on Tuesday if Woll is unavailable to reduce Hildeby’s workload? We will certainly find out in the coming days.

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