Morning after recap: Still hilarious

We’re not going to forget this win for a long time.

Despite only playing each other twice a year, Edmonton and Toronto have, somehow, formed a rivalry.

Maybe it’s due to the jealousy of Edmonton fans. Maybe it’s due to the Connor McDavid-Auston Matthews… “debate”? (It’s been over for a long time). Or maybe it’s just because it really is Toronto vs. Everybody. Even though this was just a midweek matchup in November,  the atmosphere in Public Money Arena last night made you feel like there was something else at stake.

Anyway, let’s walk you through this wacky whale of a game.

The first Leafs shot of the game and it’s an Auston Matthews goal. Get more poetic. Leaving Auston Matthews in front of the net on the power play is usually not a good idea, and despite having (probably like minor midget or something) all-star Laurent Brossoit in net, the Oilers were unable to keep this one out.

Jake Gardiner gets the puck going with a nice neutral zone transition, then the Leafs play keepaway for a few moments. The puck ends up on Wee Willie Nylander’s stick, he finds Auston floating around the middle of the faceoff circle with a great cross-ice pass, (no affiliation with faceoffcircle.ca) and whattya know, he’s got all the time in the world. 1-0 Buds.

Dominic Moore hadn’t scored since October 26th. While we weren’t exactly expecting a million goals from him, things were getting a little slow recently.

Zack Kassian blows a scoring chance early in the video, then the Oilers end up throwing the puck all the way back to their own end. Eric Gryba makes a horrendous hockey play throwing the puck on blindly into the neutral zone, where Moorecat is ready to pounce. Picking up the loose puck like it’s his child from daycare, Moore simply skates into the offensive zone with control and space and fires the puck into the back of the net. Just like that, it’s 2-0 buds in the first period.

Jake Gardiner makes a lot of good plays. This was not one of them. A bad breakout pass goes awry, and suddenly the Leafs find the puck in the back of their own net. Zack Kassian picks up the puck, finds Jujhar Khaira in Gretzky’s office, Zaitsev and Gardiner fail to pick up Letestu as they’re caught puck watching, and well, the Oilers score.

Look at that goshdarn smile on Martin’s face. The “I’m just so blessed to be playing in the NHL alongside Willie Nylander” smile. A weird breakout attempt (a pass up the middle of the ice to no one) gets this play going, as Andreas Borgman gets a stick on it and throws it back in Matt Martin’s direction. The Oilers try to break out again, but another bad turnover catches four of five Oilers ahead of the puck. William Nylander ends up with the puck on his stick, and has this scenario.

He feeds Moore, who finds Matt Martin of all people and the Leafs have a two-goal lead in the first period once again.

A little over six minutes into the second, the Oilers once again manufacture some offence. Keeping possession behind their net, the Oilers play keepaway long enough to create some some netfront traffic. A point shot goes wide, Khaira ends up with the puck behind the net once again, and it’s a wide open shot for Kassian.

Connor McDavid scores a lot of beautiful goals. This wasn’t one of them. He gets his hands on the puck off a Kris Russell shot and it’s a tied hockey game. McDavid drew two penalties on Roman Polak this period, which is just about as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow.

On the powerplay after an Eric Gryba boarding call, William Nylander needed just seven seconds to take the lead in this game. Nylander wins the draw himself to Jake Gardiner, finds some space above the right faceoff circle, and then finds some space in the net.

Heading into the third, it’s 4-3 Leafs.

Sometimes you have a great shot that turns around a rough season for you and restores your confidence.

And then sometimes, later in the same game, score the winning goal for the other team into your own dang net. Listen to the radio call here in the video above. It’s a worthwhile one. Otherwise, we have no words.

While the above goal was credited to Marleau, Naz stays on the ice and finishes it up with an empty netter. That’s all she wrote, folks.