TORONTO — The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs lined up against one of the current titans of the game, they emerged with one of their most important wins of this young season.
It was two weeks ago, under the Ball Arena lights in Denver, when they contended with Nathan MacKinnon galloping down the sheet at them with his signature fury. Now comes another stiff test: a Saturday-night marquee matchup (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT) against the Edmonton Oilers and captain Connor McDavid — he of an absurd 13 points in his past three games and 31 through just 10 overall this season, a pace that has the six-time Art Ross winner on track for a mind-melting 250 by year’s end.
Wild for most, but perhaps not for No. 97.
“I mean, I don't think it's really too surprising,” Auston Matthews said from the club’s practice facility Friday before the Maple Leafs set off for Edmonton. “I think since he came into the league, he's been the standard. He’s obviously a fantastic player — not too many people in history have done what he's continued to do.”
Jack Roslovic knows the Edmonton captain’s prolific game well after spending last season in an Oilers sweater, including a stretch on McDavid's wing.
“I was living it. I saw it every night,” he said. “Work ethic, God-given skill — a mixture of the two is pretty deadly. As a player, it’s fun to watch him play. But I think for everyone who plays against him, too, it’s an enjoyable challenge. … You get to go against the best. It’s fun to test yourself. It’s fun to hold yourself up to that.”
The Maple Leafs will look to draw on the success they found against MacKinnon and Co. earlier this month, a night that saw the Avalanche talisman pot two goals but the Leafs win 6-3.
“It was the same thing when we were in Colorado a couple weeks ago — it's similar on a lot of nights,” Matthews said. “You’re going to play some really good players, some really elite players, and you just try to limit their time and space as much as possible. But, you know, they're very good. They're going to get their chances, they're going to get their opportunities. They're going to make something out of nothing sometimes. It’s just trying to limit that as much as you can.”
While Toronto’s veterans are no strangers to seeing No. 97 in blue and orange flying by them on the ice, conjuring some offensive wizardry in the vicinity of their cage, Saturday brings rookie Gavin McKenna his first chance to go toe-to-toe with McDavid at the height of his powers.
But he doesn’t need to wait for the weekend to be awed by his fellow first-overall pick.
“I think now having a taste of what the NHL is like, it just makes it that much crazier,” said McKenna, who will have plenty of family in the building for each of the Maple Leafs’ Western Canada visits. “It’s like every night you’re just expecting him to put up five points. I don’t know how he’s doing it.”
The 18-year-old shared the sheet with McDavid in the summer before debuting in Toronto, getting his first up-close glimpse of the Oilers captain’s historic skillset.
“He’s out of this world,” McKenna continued. “The first thing that stands out is the speed, I think everyone talks about that. But it’s just the way he sees the game — he’s able to slow it down, speed it up, and then find those open guys in spots where not many guys could find them. Watching him, it’s pretty crazy. To play against him, hopefully we can shut him down.”
Toronto will look to its own captain to keep the Maple Leafs level with a version of McDavid that’s seemed otherworldly this season — leaning not just on Matthews' offensive abilities, but his defensive prowess, too.
“I think he’s a hungry guy. He’s very competitive,” McKenna said of the Maple Leafs captain. “He’s got an unbelievable stick, so he’s not on the ice for a lot of goals against. He’s one of those guys you can put in that situation.
"We all believe in him. I think you’ll see it on Saturday — he’s going to step up to that occasion. We’re all looking forward to it."
McKenna sheds light on mystery goal celebration
The question’s been on the minds of every fan who’s been playing close attention to these Maple Leafs, and every reporter who’s been covering the club through the first month.
Since the season got underway in mid-September, a new goal celebration has been making the rounds among the squad — one elbow up, one glove bobbing.
The mystery only grew as many a Leaf greeted questions about the celly with only a chuckle and a glint in their eye.
“If Gavin wants to say, he can say,” Easton Cowan said with a laugh when asked about it recently.
On Friday, McKenna finally shed some light on the trend, which has seemed a subtle sign of just how quickly these new-look Leafs have come together and formed a strong bond.
“We did it in college,” the teenager said with a wide grin. “It’s like, if someone did something cool, or they’re a beauty, then you do that. I started doing it here with the guys — it’s pretty cool to see it catch on.”
The unnamed goal celebration was something of a tradition among McKenna’s Penn State squad, he said. He brought it north when the Maple Leafs first convened to begin the season — the rest was history.
“It was in training camp,” McKenna said. “Someone scored a nice goal and I hit it. They were like, ‘What does that mean?’ And they all caught on.”
More changes in store for Maple Leafs blue line
The injury bug continues to come for the Maple Leafs’ defence corps. After seeing veteran Chris Tanev exit with injury earlier this month, and Jake McCabe briefly taken out of action, too, the team now finds itself without replacement options Marshall Rifai (week-to-week with a lower-body injury) and Nick Blankenburg (week-to-week with an upper-body injury).
Dakota Mermis and Cole McWard were called up from the Marlies Friday, the former skating alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson at practice.
“We’ve played (together) a little bit before, so I know him well,” Ekman-Larsson said. “Obviously, a good player, you know what you're getting — he’s a hard-working defenceman, he makes that first pass, he’s really quick. I like his game.”
Head coach Jim Hiller said a decision hasn’t yet been made on how exactly the defence corps will line up Saturday, though Mermis seems the likely bet to draw in given his assignment at Friday’s skate.
“He’s played a lot, played well,” said Hiller, pointing out he thought the 32-year-old showed well during the pre-season, too. “Mature, strong player. I think he’s NHL-ready, I would say. So we’re not worried about him if he needs to go in.”
While the continued injury issues have no doubt thrown a wrench into his team's plans through the opening month, the blue-and-white bench boss praised the way his group has adapted to the continued adversity.
“Guys have stepped up,” Hiller said, pointing specifically to the play of Darren Raddysh, who’s averaged more than 25 minutes per night since Tanev went down. “We didn’t expect him to be playing this much, so that’s thrust him into more of an all-around role, a shutdown role. I don’t know if that was necessarily his role before, but he’s done a great job with us there. That’s what’s really been a surprise for us, and maybe where his game is underrated, is what a solid defensive player he is. Competitive, strong, great reads — that’s been really important.
"And everybody else — Stech is playing more, Morgan’s game is coming along, Caber’s playing well, OEL’s starting to come. You could go on and on. It’s a group effort, for sure.”
Lines at Friday’s Maple Leafs skate
Cowan — Matthews — Roslovic
Marchenko — Paul — Nylander
McKenna — Sissons — Lettieri
Duhaime — Blueger — MacEwen
Groulx
McCabe — Raddysh
Rielly — Stecher
Mermis — Ekman-Larsson
McWard
Stolarz
Bonello
