For the second time in as many games, a weak third period cost the Toronto Maple Leafs points. During the night of Sunday, the team let the Edmonton Oilers go to both points.
– Busy.. the third period didn’t go as we wanted at all, said Maple Leafs’ Swedish goalkeeper Dennis Hildeby after the game against the Oilers.
There, Toronto was tied 2-2 at the end of the second period when a mistake gave Darnell Nurse the chance to give the Oilers the lead just 31 seconds before the period break. A major demoralizer at home in Scotiabank Arena: The Oilers went 6-3.
Two nights earlier, the Maple Leafs were down 2-0 after one quarter in the second period against the San Jose Sharks: it was a 2-3 overtime loss.
Two games that should have given the team four much-needed points gave Toronto (14-12-5) just one; the team has dropped to sixth place in the Metropolitan Division.
Hildeby, the 24-year-old from Järfälla, now has a GAA of 2.72 and a save percentage of 92.3.
– It was a challenge, Hildeby said about the match against the Oilers. I still think I held it together well until the third period.
Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube noted that Hildeby, who has played five games in a row, looked a little tired. Barely ten minutes into the third period, Berube chose to take Hildeby off the ice and replace him with Artur Akhtyamov. Hildeby had then conceded six goals on 32 shots. Akhtyamov saved all five shots he received.
– From what I saw of how he handled the puck, he was probably a little tired tonight. But he still played really well for us, said Craig Berube. He gave us a chance to win.
But it didn’t happen that way. The Oilers went away and for the second game in a row the Maple Leafs let go of a good chance to get both points:
– We’re not taking care of the puck the right way, and we’re not playing hard enough in front of our goal… that’s what’s happened in the third period in the last two games. There are some goals there that we can’t put on (Hildeby), where we would have done a better job in front of him, summed up defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
