EDMONTON — They had to wait a while, but once the Toronto Maple Leafs got themselves a couple of power plays, they sure made ’em count.
The score was knotted 2-2 midway through Tuesday’s pre-Olympic finale against the Edmonton Oilers when, finally, after more than eight periods without a whistle in their favour, the visitors jumped to the man-advantage.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my career, three games almost without a power play,” Matais Maccelli said.
Six seconds later, Edmonton’s Mattias Janmark high-sticked Auston Matthews and — what’s this? — 104 glorious seconds of man-advantage action.
John Tavares scored on the 5-on-3, Maccelli one-timed some Max Domi sauce on the 5-on-4, the PP went 2-for-2, and the visitors locked down a 5-2 victory.
“We were all itching to get out there and just get some opportunities and get it clickin’,” Matthew Knies said. “Those are important goals and obviously led to the win.”
The turning point of the night was clear as day, but a three-game win streak for the Maple Leafs heading into the trade freeze only muddies the picture.
Toronto was outshot 36-27 by Edmonton, and we shouldn’t dare read much into wins over bottom feeders like Vancouver and Calgary, right?
Surely, this is fool’s gold, the ol’ Troy Stecher sweep of Western Canada, the six points they’ll take back to the Six. A mirage. A tease.
And yet… the Maple Leafs have crawled within five points of a wild-card spot. And, on nights like this one at Rogers Place, they can sprinkle kernels of hope for the diehard Be-Leafers. They’ll flick at a formula that works.
Their special teams proved to be a difference-maker, goaltender Anthony Stolarz looked like his swaggery old self, and they committed to defending their net-front hard.
Led by a shutdown tandem of Brandon Carlo and Jake McCabe, the Leafs were that rare team to keep both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl off the scoresheet. Even when Kris Knoblauch paired his rested superstars for a classic third-period push.
“Oh, it was fantastic. I mean, Brando stepping up, getting to a fight, Caber playing against their top line, the way they were able to block shots, keep guys on the outside and just stay physical,” Stolarz raved.
“It’s tough. We played a game last night, travelled, so they definitely earned these next couple weeks here off.”
Carlo was quick to tip his cap to McCabe, who has picked up the slack all season in the absence of Chris Tanev.
“You know, just watching him, his defensive skill, the way he’s been all year, but especially tonight, handling 97 and handling 29. He’s a special player, for sure,” Carlo said. “And he gives me confidence right next to him, to have my gaps, do my thing.
“We just kept it simple and kept those guys to the outside as much as possible. When they did get their opportunities, Stollie was there.”
The vibes are high in Leafland right now as the stars turn their attention to Milan, and the majority scatters for sunshine and bruise healing.
The duelling “Let’s go, Oilers! Go, Leafs, go!” chants in Edmonton morphed into “Go, Leafs, go!” by the end.
Despite all the doubt and rumours, the long odds and unsatisfying under-the-hood metrics, the players themselves aren’t willing to go out quietly.
But have they proven enough to the brass to not turn into the sellers they should be? Or at least extend the hmm-let’s-see process for a few games in March?
“You’re never out of it,” Carlo asserted.
“This break will be nice, but we want to come back with the same intensity that we brought through these last three games and continue to build our game. You can kind of tell just the feeling within the room when we’re playing our right game, playing our right way.
“It’s a good feeling within that room and something you definitely want to be a part of.”
• Top five (healthy) Maple Leafs who will benefit from the Olympic break:
5. Jake McCabe: Averaging a career-high and team-high 22:25 per night, Toronto’s plus/minus leader gets the hard matchups and plays them hard. The ask is big.
“Especially with (Chris Tanev) out, we put a lot on his shoulders,” Knies said. “He’s handled the challenge, and he’s done a phenomenal job.”
4. Easton Cowan. The rookie has hit a wall, resulting in three straight scratches. A mental reset and, perhaps, some AHL shifts could boost his confidence. “I think the break is gonna do him well,” Berube says.
3. Brandon Carlo. From surgery recovery, right back to blocking shots. We’ve seen Carlo leave the ice on this trip with a noticeable limp, and he’s barely looked 100 per cent most nights all season. Oh, and he just dropped the gloves with a much more experienced pugilist in Darnell Nurse.
2. John Tavares. The 35-year-old has been fading for a few weeks now, and he was a beast coming out of 2025’s 4 Nations break.
1. Matthew Knies. He is dealing with a knee issue that only benefits from rest, is being sheltered on the third line, and is a noticeable facsimile of his best self.
“A lot of us need a refresher,” Knies says. “This is valuable time for me.”
• Between Boxing Day and Groundhog Day, Leafs goalie Joseph Woll started 14 times, one of his busiest stretches as a pro.
“It’s a lot of games. It’s a pretty crazy schedule. So, it’s nice to just get away, right? Like, we’re not really afforded this ability too often in hockey, where you get three weeks and you can actually get away and rest your brain and come back refreshed. So, it will be good for our team.”
Woll is chasing the sun south, then spending some time in California.
“I’m really excited for a few days there, and then we have a nice solid week of practice. So, it’ll be good to go back and work on the details. There’s not much practice time right now, so I’m actually looking forward to that.”
• Maccelli in 2024-25: eight goals and 18 points in 55 games.
Maccelli in 2025-26: 10 goals and 24 points in 46 games.
• If you’re making bets on the next NHL goalie to fight, you could do worse than throwing a chunk of change down on Stolarz. He’s sick of anyone getting too close to his crease:
• Carlo on his open-ice hit on McDavid and ensuing fight with Nurse: “Puck just came to the middle. I kinda swung my hip a little bit. I felt like I got him on the hip. I don’t know where I got him necessarily, but obviously he was a little stunned after that. Understandably, when he gets hit, or any sort of situation where it looks like he could maybe get hurt, all 20 guys on the ice are going to be standing up for him. So, I knew something was coming, and I have a lot of respect for guys who stand up for their best players. So, nothing wrong there.
“When you get into a fight, the adrenaline’s going. So, just trying to do my best, throw a couple punches, and I felt like I did pretty well. He’s definitely a big guy, a strong competitor and tough fighter as well. So, it was good in all regards that I didn’t get knocked out or anything. Glad to get that one under the belt and then continue from there and win the game.”
