Maple Leafs lose to Edmonton Oilers as Connor McDavid scores two

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The Maple Leafs will need a span to assimilate their new players, but the whole team paid for not starting on time Wednesday.

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Especially when a fired-up Connor McDavid has his game face screwed on across centre ice. McDavid forced their Western welcome wagon off the road at Rogers Place in a 5-2 win for Edmonton.

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The Oilers, after making significant trades of their own, had McDavid and friends made it an uncomfortable debut for two new Leafs, defenceman Jake McCabe and winger Sam Lafferty.

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Defencemen Erik Gustafsson and Luke Schenn will join the Leafs for Thursday’s game in Calgary.

McDavid’s first-period strikes, part of five straight multi-goal efforts, are one game off a 100-year NHL record, Meanwhile, every Leaf seemed a step behind through 40 minutes.

“We didn’t have a very good start, letting their best people get going, getting opportunities off the rush, grabbing the lead,” said Toronto captain John Tavares.

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McDavid, who reached 50 goals earlier in the week, had his speed and puck control on full display. He knocked in a Leon Draisaitl rebound on a power play, backed off defender Timothy Liljegren before beating Ilya Samsonov then assisted on ex-Leaf Zach Hyman’s first against his old team. Newest Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm, who arrived just before the game from Nashville, assisted on that as well as showing his own zone strengths.

Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe sensed trouble right away when Mitch Marner and David Kampf didn’t get the puck deep with McCabe in the box.

“Against the No. 1 power play (nearly 33%) maybe in the history of the NHL, we get our first exit and give it right back to them,” Keefe groused. “Those are our regular penalty killers, our top people. That’s how we started the game and it didn’t get much better from there.”

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McCabe played 21 minutes, with two hits, two shots and a block, but looked comfortable with partner TJ Brodie and apologized afterwards for putting the team in a quick hole with his slash.

“It’s different nuances, different systems, but a lot of guys were talking to me, making it easier,” McCabe said of fitting in. “It will only get easier.”

Lafferty was on the fourth line wing with Noel Acciari and Zach Aston-Reese, but Keefe started moving forwards around in the final stages. Ryan O’Reilly centred a third line with Lafferty and Alex Kerfoot that could stick on Thursday. Keefe said he didn’t want to over-analyze his two new skaters.

“They played fine, it’s the guys we regularly count on who weren’t good enough. It’s just disappointing.” Kampf did score in the first period the Oilers slowed up thinking an offside whistle was coming. The game had to be completed with one linesman when Ryan Daisy had a lower body injury in the opening minutes.

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Kailer Yamamoto tipped a Cody Ceci shot in the second, Klim Kostin added another, while McDavid’s interference call wiped out a sixth. That allowed the Leafs some hope, a Marner power-play goal to open the third. Morgan Rielly assisted on that in his 700^th game, the 15^th Leaf to reach the milestone. It was also William Nylander’s 500^th.

Late in the game, defenceman Timothy Liljegren went to the dressing room for a few minutes after being shaken up in a fall, while Justin Holl, who threw a couple of hard hits that upset the Oilers, including one on McDavid, wound up fighting Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Samsonov still had to be sharp in making 27 saves, though Joseph Woll will start in Calgary.

McCabe had a text from Schenn Wednesday morning, asking if he wouldn’t mind giving him the No. 2 McCabe was originally assigned. Told it was Schenn’s original number as a 2008 Toronto first round draft pick, McCabe quickly agreed to take 22.

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A LOT OF NEW GUYS

Now that the Maple Leafs have seven proven defencemen to work into the final quarter of the schedule, who among them sits each night?

Some load management for 39-year-old Mark Giordano perhaps? Jake McCabe, Erik Gustafsson and Luke Schenn have certainly changed the lineup dynamic for Sheldon Keefe.

“No different for me than where we were at last season,” insisted the coach. “We’d added Giordano and Ilya Lyubushkin around the deadline. There’s lots of competition, lots of support for the group if there are injuries, lots of options for me.

“(The newcomers) add far different skill sets. It’s a good problem to have. Specifically, with Schenn and Gustafsson, you have two guys who have been in this position before, coming into new teams, playing deep in the playoffs, moving in and out of the lineup.”

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Gustafsson appeared against the Leafs in the 2021 playoffs for the Canadiens, a series Montreal won in seven, getting into 16 total games in their long run that spring.

Schenn had 19 post-season games in winning two Cups with Tampa Bay before joining Vancouver. McCabe, to his chagrin, has not yet seen playoff action after nearly 500 regular-season games.

“We’ll find ways to get everybody involved,” Keefe said.

Now that the Maple Leafs have seven proven defencemen to work into the final quarter of the schedule, who among them sits each night?

Some load management for 39-year-old Mark Giordano perhaps? Jake McCabe, Erik Gustafsson and Luke Schenn have certainly changed the lineup dynamic for Sheldon Keefe.

“No different for me than where we were at last season,” insisted the coach. “We’d added Giordano and Ilya Lyubushkin around the deadline. There’s lots of competition, lots of support for the group if there are injuries, lots of options for me.

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“(The newcomers) add far different skill sets. It’s a good problem to have. Specifically, with Schenn and Gustafsson, you have two guys who have been in this position before, coming into new teams, playing deep in the playoffs, moving in and out of the lineup.”

Gustafsson appeared against the Leafs in the 2021 playoffs for the Canadiens, a series Montreal won in seven, getting into 16 total games in their long run that spring.

Schenn had 19 post-season games in winning two Cups with Tampa Bay before joining Vancouver. McCabe, to his chagrin, has not yet seen playoff action after nearly 500 regular-season games.

“We’ll find ways to get everybody involved,” Keefe said.

SANDIN SUNSET

William Nylander, the senior Swede on the Leafs, said it was tough say goodbye to Rasmus Sandin and Pierre Engvall after practice Tuesday afternoon when they were traded to Washington and the New York Islanders, respectively. Nylander will miss Sandin in particular.

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“Sad to see him go. He has been living with me on and off throughout his time here. But he has a bright future. (Washington) is getting a young talented guy who can run their power play and a great guy off of the ice. I said to him to look at it positively.

“We were a Swedish group that were going out to dinners and stuff like that. The group is a little smaller, we lost two but gain one (Gustafsson).”

ROAD ROLL CALL

It will take a few days for all new additions to check in.

Schenn did not arrive in Edmonton from Vancouver in time for Wednesday’s morning skate while Gustafsson was acquired as the Capitals were preparing to start a road trip in California and was to meet the Leafs on Thursday in Calgary.

“Everybody’s gelling well,” Keefe said. “All the guys we brought in are tremendous guys, great personalities and that’s allowed the transition to happen a lot smoother.

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“(Forward Sam) Lafferty is younger with less experience, but the (others) we brought in are veterans. The energy has been great — away from the rink, too — you see it in the hotels and the team meals and on off days when guys are having fun together.

“I’ve frankly seen more of that than we’ve had in the past and that’s a really good sign. It shows our guys have embraced them.”

MARLIES TO THE MAX

Max Ellis scored two goals to give him six in the past seven games as the Marlies stayed on top of the AHL’s North Division with a 5-3 Wednesday school day game win over the Rockford IceHogs.

Ellis, a 5-foot-9 right winger and part of a large University of Notre Dame element on the farm team, was joined on the scoresheet by Dryden Hunt, Pontus Holmberg and Joseph Blandisi. Erik Kallgren made 21 saves for the win.

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After the game, coach Greg Moore told reporters forward Bobby McMann is out with a lower body injury with no timeline for a return.

LOOSE LEAFS

Keefe on the married newcomers moving their large broods to Toronto. “We might have doubled the number of children we bring into the family rooms at home games,” he wryly noted … It was mentioned to the coach that one way around sitting a useful defenceman in certain games would be to dress seven and reduce to 11 forwards. “I don’t love it, it’s not option ‘A’, but it’s an option for sure” … Nylander said the Bruce Springsteen concert in Seattle that many Leafs attended was a blast. “My dad (NHLer Michael) was a huge fan growing up so I listened to him a lot and become a fan myself. Of course he was (jealous), I sent him a video right away. It was pretty chill.”

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William Nylander, the senior Swede on the Leafs, said it was tough say goodbye to Rasmus Sandin and Pierre Engvall after practice Tuesday afternoon when they were traded to Washington and the New York Islanders, respectively. Nylander will miss Sandin in particular.

“Sad to see him go. He has been living with me on and off throughout his time here. But he has a bright future. (Washington) is getting a young talented guy who can run their power play and a great guy off of the ice. I said to him to look at it positively.

“We were a Swedish group that were going out to dinners and stuff like that. The group is a little smaller, we lost two but gain one (Gustafsson).”