Tavares goal gives Maple Leafs split with Oilers

TORONTO-- John Tavares scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 8:14 left in the third period to help the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.

Mitchell Marner took a pass at the blue line from William Nylander before having his shot deflected at the top of the crease by Tavares to put Toronto up 3-2. Each of Tavares' four goals this season have come on the power play.
"As the game went on we got better," Tavares said. "We were a little loose with some opportunities they created in the first period, but other than that, I thought we really found our game plan and guys stepped up and got a big bounce-back win."
Marner had a goal and an assist, Jimmy Vesey and Adam Brooks scored, and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves for the Maple Leafs (4-2-0), whose only loss in their past four games was 3-1 to the Oilers on Wednesday.
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid scored, and Mikko Koskinen made 25 saves for the Oilers (2-4-0).
"We just made one or two more mistakes and they capitalized," McDavid said. "They're a good offensive team, if you give them a little sniff they're going to figure it out. I liked our first period and I like our third period. Our second period wasn't our best and they found a way to get a couple. We tied the game early in the third and they pushed all the way through. They get a [power play] and they score and that's the game."

The Maple Leafs played without forward Auston Matthews, who is day to day with an upper-body injury, and forward Joe Thornton, who will be out at least four weeks with a fractured rib.
"In a game going into it without two very important players for us, we get down with a shorthanded goal but responded right away," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "That was a positive sign for us. Really good signs for us, we were steady all the way through, and I thought Fred Andersen was outstanding and that gave our group confidence."
McDavid tied it 2-2 50 seconds into the third period when he deflected a shot from Ethan Bear in the slot.
Vesey gave Toronto a 2-1 lead when he took a pass from Nylander at 11:16 of the second period.
"Willie made a great play," Vesey said. "A lot of people I think thought he would have shot that puck, but he just slid it over and I was able to bury it."

Draisaitl gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead when he scored shorthanded at 5:12 of the second period. He stole the puck from Nylander at the side of the net and shot between Andersen's pads from the goal line.
Brooks tied it 1-1 with his first NHL goal on the same power play 43 seconds later when he deflected a shot in the slot from Jason Spezza. Brooks was making his season debut after playing seven games last season.
"It's nice for it to come from a guy like Spezza," the 24-year-old said. "I played with him my first NHL game ever (Dec. 28, 2019) and I got him to sign a stick for me, so to say he assisted on my first goal, a guy that's played for that long at that caliber, it's a pretty cool moment for me."
Marner scored into an empty net with one second left in the third period to make it 4-2.
"The (second and third) goals were mistakes by us, poor giveaways in our own end and we didn't get in a lane, and taking a penalty in the third and it cost us the game," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said.
NOTES: Oilers forward James Neal played 10:37, had three shots on goal and was minus-2 in his season debut. He was removed from the NHL COVID-19 protocol list on Jan. 15. ... Andersen got his 139th win with the Maple Leafs, passing Curtis Joseph for fourth in Toronto history. "It's obviously cool to be mentioned in the same sentence as a guy like 'Cujo'," Andersen said. "He's a phenomenal person. He's one of the greats in Toronto, and it's special, but when you're a part of a great team, you're going to end up with some wins. I'm happy about the way we responded tonight." Andersen is 139-68-33 with Toronto; Joseph was 138-97-28. Turk Broda holds the Toronto record at 304-222-102 (ties). ... Brooks played seven NHL games last season.