Sports

Ekholm’s strong defensive presence noticeable in debut as Oilers take down Maple Leafs

March 2, 2023

EDMONTON — Mattias Ekholm has seen the circus earlier than.

However he’s by no means been allowed to get pleasure from it like he did on Wednesday, as the Edmonton Oilers‘ latest addition watched Connor McDavid notch his fifth consecutive two-goal recreation in a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

What was he pondering whereas McDavid was doing his factor? A factor that hasn’t been achieved since Alex Mogilny some 30 years in the past?

“It’s sort of good to see that he doesn’t simply do it to you,” the large Swede stated with a smile. “Simply to see him do it in particular person, it’s fairly cool. I imply, it’s like no one else.”

With Ekholm consuming up nearly 21 minutes on the blue-line, Edmonton’s D-corps regarded in contrast to something we’ve seen in this constructing this season. They have been a relaxed, stout and defensively sound unit, by no means in doubt of dropping some extent in a recreation they dominated for many of 60 minutes — and all of the minutes that mattered.

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“He confirmed precisely what he’s going to convey to this crew tonight,” McDavid stated of Ekholm. “Simply steady. A extremely, actually good, strong defender again there.”

If it was Edmonton’s defensive posture that Ekholm was introduced in to assist straighten out, then for one evening no less than, the Oilers stood up tall in opposition to one of many NHL’s finest offensive golf equipment. Toronto had simply 22 pictures and one aim at five-on-five, as Edmonton led 5-1 after two and gave up solely a powerplay aim in the third.

“Our crew has been hitting its stride post-Christmas,” stated head coach Jay Woodcroft. “We needed to make some exhausting choices that drive tradition, and we’ve seen some strong outcomes. We’ve misplaced three of the final 20 in regulation.”

Since Christmas the Oilers have gone 15-6-6, finest in the Western Convention. Most significantly, in these 27 video games they’ve allowed two objectives or much less 13 occasions.

“They defended exhausting, performed us exhausting,” stated Toronto’s John Tavares, the precise quote Woodcroft would need to learn popping out of the opposition’s locker room. “We weren’t on the stage that we would have liked to be.”

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The crew with the NHL’s strongest offence, Edmonton goes to win 80 per cent of video games in which they permit two or much less.

Which is the place Ekholm comes in.

“I take plenty of pleasure in the defensive aspect of the sport. I feel that’s the place I’m at my finest,” he stated. “So figuring out that if I do my job to 100 per cent, there’s a excessive chance that the end result of the sport goes to be actually good.”

The 32-year-old obtained to city at 1:30 p.m., and logged 20:50 of ice time — simply 30 seconds on the powerplay. Taking part in principally with Evan Bouchard — the pair was plus-2 — Ekholm’s presence merely eases the position of each different defenceman, making the group of seven look higher as an entire and individually.

“When the batting order is about a sure approach,” defined Woodcroft, “all people appears good. I assumed we obtained good minutes from all people who performed tonight — on the again finish and up entrance. Nevertheless it was good so as to add somebody of Ekholm’s high quality to the lineup.”

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In entrance of a full home break up equally amongst Oilers and Leafs followers, Edmonton really deposited seven pucks previous Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov. One was known as again on a minor penalty, and one other on an early whistle — and clear referee’s error — that price Warren Foegele his twelfth of the season.

And it was Samsonov, not Stuart Skinner, who was tasked with stopping three others that had followers with their arms in the air, anticipating the pink gentle to go on. Skinner was as good as he needed to be, and you’ll’t sneeze at permitting solely two to a crew with the weapons that Toronto has.

However this recreation was Edmonton’s from the anthems to the post-game beers — a 5-2 recreation that simply might have been seven or eight to 2.

In fact, McDavid drove the bus. It’s not usually he gained’t come up giant on the large stage — a nationally televised recreation in opposition to the mighty Maple Leafs. And on this evening he merely logged objectives 51 and 52 on the season, then added an help for level quantity 118 in recreation No. 62.

One other two-goal evening — his fifth in a row. Ho hum.

“Typically it simply goes in,” he shrugged. “I felt like I used to be enjoying good hockey earlier than and it simply wasn’t going in for me. You sort of get a bounce and it appears to go in for you. It’s a humorous recreation that approach.”

In the meantime, this marked the a hundredth recreation behind the bench for Woodcroft. His file after the century milestone: 59-30-11, for a .645 factors share that’s fifth finest in NHL over that span of time.

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