Player grades: Tragedy of errors as Edmonton Oilers lose 7-2 to Toronto Maple Leafs

It was a tragedy of errors for the Edmonton Oilers, many of them in that most dreaded “mental mistake” category. It added up to Edmonton losing 7-2 to the Maple Leafs of Toronto.

“I didn’t like anything about tonight,” said Oilers coach Mike Babcock, noting that the Toronto coach had his team ready to compete, but he failed to do so.

The Grade A shots were 16 to 11 for Edmonton with the subset of most dangerous five-alarm shots eight for both teams.

Connor McDavid, 7. Not his night when it comes to puck luck. Two assists. Lots of offence in the first, but no points. In the second, he snapped on net a tricky shot as he moved across the slot. Great pass to set up Drai on the final Edmonton goal.

Leon Draisaitl, 8. The best Oiler. Two goals. A tower of power at even strength. He ripped a slotter on net in the first and got another dangerous slotter later in the period. He finally snapped one in the net through a crowd of the players to make it 3-1 late in the second. Scored a late power play goal.

Vasily Podkolzin, 5. He stumbled, then misread the play covering for Bouchard, kicking off the sequence of pain on Toronto’s 1-0 goal rush. Super shot block early in the third. He missed on a wide open net front shot in the third.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. Led his line in a strong two-way game. He snapped a shot off the post on the power play in the first. Swell pass to send in Hyman on a breakaway in the second.

Zach Hyman, 7. Great hustle in this one. He was sent in on a breakaway in the second but failed to drain it. Some hard work to set up RNH for a hard wrister late in the second. Worked like a demon in the corner to win the puck and start off the virtuous cycle on Edmonton’s second goal.

Kasperi Kapanen, 3. His weak backcheck was the big mistake on Toronto’s 3-0 goal rush.

Alex Formenton, 6. Good speed and puck protection to set up a wicked Walman harpoon in the first. Bashed away at Troy Stecher late in the first, showing some needed aggression. Followed up with a hard hit on Ekman-Larsson in the second.

Owen Michaels, 3. Just not getting much done on the attack, not even close. Along with Walman, he failed to cut out key pass to the point on the 4-1 Toronto PP goal against. He had one and nine losses on the dot.

Mathieu Joseph, 4. Not much going on in this one either.

Colton Dach, 6. Put the puck hard on net in the first and Hallander almost scored. Had a soft penalty call against him in the second.

Filip Hallander, 6. He had two great crease shots late in the first.

Max Jones, 6. Made a fine pass on the virtuous cycle leading up to Hallander’s two first period creasers.

Jake Walman, 2. Rough game. Real rough. He was tripped down hard into the endboards by Roslovic. “A real sneaky, dirty play,” Sportsnet’s Kevin Bieksa said. Walman deflected in Toronto’s first goal trying to break up a rebound play. He was also the goat on the second goal against, his terrible line change leading to Toronto’s 2-0 goal rush. Allowed a key slot pass on the 4-1 Toronto goal. He stumbled and was the primary culprit on Toronto’s 5-1 goal rush.

Evan Bouchard, 6. Great pass to set up RNH on the PP in the first. He watched his shot a moment too long and failed to get back on Toronto’s 1-0 goal.

Connor Murphy, 6. Solid takeout of big Marchenko early on. Tried a behind-the-pack pass in the first period, almost pulled it off. He picked a fight in the second trying to rile up his team.

Ryan Shea, 6. Strong two-way game early on, moving puck well. But the pass on the 2-0 goal rush went right through his feet. He ripped a slotter on net off a McD feed half-way through the third.

Ty Emberson, 4. He was unable to get his stick on Stecher on the 3-0 goal. Lost his man on a third period Toronto five-alarmer.

Shakir Mukhamadullin, 2. Looked nervous and/or rusty with some super iffy puck-moving early on. An early turnover down low led to a sharp angle McKenna shot. Another d-zone turnover a few shifts later, then another a shift later. Another d-zone turnover in the third let to a five-alarm backhand slotter. He screened Jarry on the last goal.

Tristan Jarry, 4. Tough night, hung out to dry by teammates but also failed to come up with the big save. A few big, juicy rebounds early on. Stopped a hard slotter eight minutes in and successfully sprawled to prevent a rebound goal. Great stop on Cowan on Toronto’s 1-0 goal, but could not stop the rebound from his own teammate Walman. Great head-man pass to RNH, who sent in Hyman on a breakaway. No chance on the 2-0 cross-seam pass. But a save on Stecher’s 3-0 goal rush would have been most welcome. He cleaned up his own rancid turnover a moment later with a save on Blueger’s creaser. Little chance on Nylander’s 4-1 PP harpoon.