Phil Kessel picks up two as Toronto Maple Leafs dominate Edmonton Oilers 6-3 -NHL Update
Toronto maintained its position as the seventh number team in the Eastern Conference by grabbing their third straight victory, 6-3, over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night, February 6, 2012, at the sold-out Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Edmonton was also eyeing a fourth consecutive win as they hoped to begin moving up in the West, standing at number 14 at the moment, but as Toronto’s goalie, James Reimer, played stiff in the net, blocking 27 of 30 attempts, the Oilers found it hard to stay at par with the focused Maple Leafs.
For the Maple Leafs, focusing on scoring and how much they were ahead or behind was not a part of their strategy but instead concentrating on playing well and consistent throughout was the main idea.
"There's not a whole heck of a lot of scoreboard watching on our part," Toronto coach, Ron Wilson, said. "Just take care of our own business and worry about ourselves. That's kind of our mentality."
The first period was fierce in terms of competition as Jordan Eberle kicked off the scoring for his 23rd of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, followed by two straight from Toronto’s, Clarke MacArthur and Jake Gardiner, both assited by Mikhail Grabovski.
Eberle capped off the period with his second of the night and closing the first 20 minutes with both teams tied, 2-2.
Phil Kessel picked up his first of the night entering the second period, followed by a breakaway goal from Tyler Bozak unassisted while Edmonton’s, Jeff Petry, put in the momentum breaking goal but Joffrey Lupul added the extension goal nearly three minutes later.
Kessel got the final of the night with less than two minutes remaining in the third, taking the match way out of Edmonton’s hands.
"We're playing confident and we're playing well," Bozak said. "So we just want to keep worrying about our next game in hand and not look too far ahead and just keep winning."
Toronto is eyeing a fourth straight victory as they head off to Winnipeg to face the Jets on Tuesday while Oilers host the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
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