McDavid lauds Leafs' stingy defense: 'They had us pretty figured out'
The Toronto Maple Leafs' inability to defend has hindered their progress in recent years, but they appear to be turning a corner this season and allowed just one goal over nine periods in a three-game sweep of the Edmonton Oilers.
Toronto held the NHL's leading scorer, Connor McDavid, pointless in three straight contests for just the third time in his career, according to Sportsnet. The Oilers captain couldn't offer an explanation as to how the Leafs shut him and his club down.
"For whatever reason, we couldn't figure those guys out and they had us pretty figured out," McDavid said following Wednesday's 6-1 loss.
Fellow superstar Leon Draisaitl, who picked up one assist in the three-game set, was equally mystified.
"I think they played really good all three games - made it hard on us," Draisaitl said. "But we also didn't push back enough."
The Maple Leafs' 2.33 goals against per game is the fourth-best in the league. Toronto hasn't finished a season with a top-10 defense since 2002-03 or a top-five defense since 1992-93.
The most notable personnel changes on the blue line came in the form of TJ Brodie and Zach Bogosian replacing the departed Cody Ceci and Tyson Barrie, the latter of whom now plays for the Oilers.
"They gave us a bit of a lesson there that they're probably the team in our division that's the gold standard right now. ... They embarrassed us three games in a row," Barrie said.
Having played under Sheldon Keefe, Barrie knows the defensive system that the Leafs head coach has been trying to implement since he was hired in November 2019. That system appears to be coming together now.
"You can't chase that team," Barrie said. "They're playing super well structurally, and they're not giving us any freebies and any looks that we wouldn't earn."
The Leafs are 45-19-7 since Keefe took over for Mike Babcock last season.
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