FEATURE: Lessons learned

EDMONTON, AB - In the span of seven minutes, the script was flipped.
With the score even at 1-1 through 20 minutes at the Scotiabank Centre back on February 27, the Toronto Maple Leafs scored early in the middle frame then again 1:17 later through Andreas Johnsson. William Nylander made the advantage three before Johnsson capped off a torrent four-goal, seven-minute stretch for Toronto.
"It was a bad 10 minutes where they took over the game," forward Sam Gagner said. "I think that's the one thing you learn playing against them - they have a lot of guys who can make you pay when you make mistakes."
The lead was insurmountable for the Oilers, who eventually fell 6-2 and were condemned to their 13th defeat in 16 games at the time.
"When you get down four or five against a team like that, it's going to be hard to come back," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "We've got to manage the game a lot better tomorrow, and we can't let ourselves have a lull in our game where they take control for five or 10 minutes."

The Oilers embraced the shortcoming as a learning opportunity, and have rallied with a four-game winning streak. Their last loss to the Leafs has been the club's solitary regulation loss as part of a 6-1-2 record in its past nine contests.
Leon Draisaitl scored a highlight reel goal to open the scoring in the opening frame of their last meeting in what Oilers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock called his team's best period during a positive run of games that didn't translate into points.
"The first period was the best we've played out of all those games," Hitchcock said. "That's as well as we've played, especially on the road. We managed the game properly and did everything we wanted to do, and then in the second period we fed their transition game. We turned it over three times in the neutral zone, we over-pursued in the neutral zone, and they made us pay dearly for it.
"That's lesson learned. We know how we have to play to beat them and saw that in the first period, but we've got to play more than 20 minutes the right way against that team."
Beginning solid play through checking, puck management, and situational awareness in the defensive zone have all been by-products of the defeat that have played into the Oilers hands as of late, says Hitchcock.

"That's quite frankly the lesson we learned and that's why we're better now than we've ever been, because we learned the lesson in Toronto of what happens when we don't manage the puck very well," he added.
For the Oilers players, the takeaway came in the form of consistent approach and limiting chances.
"For us, we need to make sure we're consistent with what we're doing. I think we feel pretty good about our game, but we need to continue to bring it every night and tomorrow's another tough test," Gagner said. "I think you just have to manage the game as best as you can. If you're turning pucks over against them, they're really good off the rush and make you pay. They create a lot off zone entries, and the more we can play in their end and limit their chances the better off we'll be."
Year after year, the visit from the Leafs always generates plenty of animosity in both Edmonton and Toronto, especially in the era of Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews.
"Toronto is Toronto," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Obviously there's a lot of media attention, so it's bound to happen when you have a guy like Connor playing against their team. They have a lot of good, young players out there too.
"In our room we take every game basically the same. We don't make a big deal of it outside the room, but the outside stuff is whatever it is."

Oilers captain Connor McDavid became well accustomed to seeing John Tavares out on the ice at the same time as him thanks to the ability for Toronto to control the matchups on the ice as the home side.
"Tavares controls the puck well and controls the pace of the game," Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid's linemate with Zack Kassian, said this morning. "Connor can play against anyone in the league. I guess we control the matchup a lot more tomorrow, but if it is Tavares we'll be going against, we just have to play well and control the puck in the o-zone as much as we can."
Injury kept Nazem Kadri, who's often charged with the task of man-marking McDavid on the ice, out of the lineup last time out for the Leafs. When Hitchcock was questioned about the matchup with last change, the Oilers bench boss was quick to shoot that possibility down.
"No, Kadri won't play against Connor," Hitchcock laughed. "Not if I can help it."
Given the gravity of the contest, with the Leafs firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff race and the Oilers on the outside of the Wildcard picture looking in, it's a situation both Connor and his teammates are keen to capitalize on.
"If anything, I think he relishes those opportunities. We all do," Hitchcock said. "We got spanked pretty good and we want to prove ourselves and show ourselves that we're better, both individually and collectively. I've always found this year the bigger the stage, the better Connor plays."