Hutchinson's performance, defensive effort lead Maple Leafs to another shutout vs. Oilers – Toronto Sun

Article content

Morgan Rielly figuratively grabbed the mic late on Monday night.

“I just want to open it up with comments about our goalies,” the Maple Leafs defenceman said, before taking questions from media, after Toronto beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 at Rogers Place. “The last two (games) they have been outstanding. I don’t think they get enough credit.

“Soup and Hutchy have been outstanding for us all year, and two games in a row against a good team has been a huge boost.”

Who would argue?

Michael Hutchinson made 31 saves for his sixth shutout in the National Hockey League, two nights after Jack Campbell stopped all 30 Oilers shots in a 4-0 Leafs win.

The Leafs blanked the same team in back-to-back games for the 10th time in franchise history (including playoffs) and for the first time in the regular season since November 1954, when they shut out Detroit in consecutive games.

The two victories marked the first time since Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2018, that the Leafs registered back-to-back shutouts.

Article content

This time around, it was all the more impressive considering it came against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the top two scorers in the NHL.

“We’re getting to the point where we’re proving that we’re a team that can defend well, and I think that’s a big part of our success as a team,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

“Given the injuries and the adversity we’ve faced, especially in these two games, it really calls upon the team to step up and and play a good team game and, in particular, defend.”

The Leafs (17-4-2, 36 points) opened a six-point lead on the second-place Florida Panthers for first overall in the NHL and an eight-point lead on the Oilers for first in the North Division.

The Leafs again stuffed the Oilers without Auston Matthews, who missed his second game in a row with a wrist/hand injury, and without No. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen for a fourth consecutive game with a lower-body issue.

Both remain day-to-day, but it’s not clear whether either will play on Wednesday night when the Leafs and Oilers finish their three-game set.

“We’re just waiting for the strength to come back,” Keefe said of Matthews. “It is a little bit of a different situation he’s dealing with than what it was previously for him. That was just a nagging thing, this is a little bit of a different situation. But he is progressing.”

Campbell on Saturday aggravated the lower body injury that had kept him out since Jan. 24.

“You go through your practice sessions and he was feeling really good, but game conditions are a whole different beast and it didn’t respond,” Keefe said. “We’re taking it a day at a time.”

Article content

Hutchinson improved to 3-1 with a .943 save percentage. Combined, Hutchinson and Campbell are 6-1-0.

The Leafs figured the Oilers were going to have some initial fire after getting nothing on Saturday night, and they were right.

Hutchinson made a point-blank save on Dominik Kahun and then denied a streaking McDavid, who blew past Justin Holl with ease, before the Leafs had registered a shot on Oilers starter Mikko Koskinen.

McDavid led the Oilers with six shots on goal but was held without a point in consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 18-20, 2019.

“It’s nice to feel the puck early on,” Hutchinson said. “When McDavid came flying down on that one in the first period, it was a good wakeup call for me, seeing how fast he is right off the hop, and trying to be prepared for that for the rest of the game.

“We came on strong in the first period. In the second half of it, and we really controlled the play. We were able to score some key goals and go from there.”

The Leafs scored on their first two shots on Koskinen, as Zach Hyman scored on a backhand at 7:19 and William Nylander did the same at 10:20. Rielly, who assisted on Hyman’s goal, scored on a power play at 18:07 of the first when his point shot went off Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse.

Mike Smith replaced Koskinen to start the second, but the change didn’t have an impact on the home team.

Rielly’s two points gave him 17 in his past 17 games.

Toronto was strong on the penalty-kill, going 4-for-4. The Leafs might not have been as air-tight as they were in their win on Saturday, but Hutchinson was sharp when required.

“To have these two results through the first two games of this trip is a positive sign for us,” Keefe said. “I didn’t like our game as much as I did the other night, yet our guys played hard. We defended our net very well.

“It felt like one of those nights, just the way (Hutchinson) was moving in the net, the saves he was making, it gave me the confidence that they were going to have to do a lot to score one. He was terrific. It was fun to watch him.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/koshtorontosun