Player grades: What did Edmonton Oilers reveal in ugly beat down ...

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Edmonton Oilers to every lose puck, building up a five-goal lead on their way to victory on Saturday.

What did the Oilers reveal in this ugly beatdown, which ended up 6-3 for Toronto?

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The same persistent and painful lessons that have showered down like a rain of frogs on their Stanley Cup aspirations.

That when the Oilers are off their game, they endanger the world record for lazy stick-checks per 60.

That if the opposition is fast and determined enough, even big guns like Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl can be rendered ineffective.

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That if the Oilers don’t outwork and out-defend opposing teams, that if Edmonton does not put hard work and disciplined play first, second and third on their to-do list, they won’t come close to winning the Stanley Cup.

Edmonton has talent but not enough to cruise against a strong team, and that the Maple Leafs are.

After two periods, the Leafs had 9 Grade A shots and five goals, the Oilers just three Grade A shots and no goals.

In the end, the Grade A shots were 11 for Edmonton, 12 for the Leafs, with the subset of 5-alarm shots three for the Oil, seven for Toronto.

Connor McDavid, 3. His worst game of the year? It’s in the running, which may sound odd as he had three assists. Drew an early tripping penalty. But the Leafs hustle kept him under wraps as Toronto built up a five goal lead, with McD making a few poor defensive plays of his own. On the fifth, he was puck-watching in the slot as the pass went to his check, Bobby McMann, who slammed home the goal. But he made a fine pass to set up Hyman’s 49th of the year, then worked his passing magic again in the Virtuous Cycle leading to Corey Perry’s goal. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +3/-3; Special Teams +4/-0.

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Leon Draisaitl, 4. Lashed his Executioner’s Shot on net for the game’s first Grade A. But he seemed largely out of sync, as Edmonton’s top lined were checked to smithereens. He scored a late goal. GAS: +3/-1; ST +2/-0.

Zach Hyman, 4. All were hoping it would be the night he’d score his 50th in Toronto, but perhaps that proved out as a distraction. He had little impact this game until he scored on the power play five minutes into the third. GAS: +2/-0; ST +2/-0.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 4. He kicked off the Sequence of Pain on Toronto’s third goal by losing a puck battle, then allowed a pass into the slot. He put the puck off the post after Edmonton pulled the goalie. GAS: +1/-1; ST +1/-0.

Warren Foegele, 4. Invisible as Toronto built its lead. He did set up McLeod for a hard shot-handed shot early in the third. GAS: +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

Ryan McLeod, 4. Also invisible as Oil fell behind. GAS: +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

Evander Kane, 4. Like McDavid, he got tripped early on, but it’s apparently permitted to trip Kane with no penalty. He made a fine pass to set up Perry’s goal. GAS: +2/-1; ST +1/-0.

Adam Henrique, 3. He muffed on a 4-on-2 shot off the rush in the first. GAS: +1/-1; ST +0/-0.

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Corey Perry, 6. Edmonton’s best forward. Solid hustle play to set up Kane early in the second. Tapped in a crease shot in the third for Edmonton’s second. He drove a nasty wrister on net with a few seconds left. GAS: +3/-0; ST +1/-0.

Mattias Janmark, 4. Got little done. GAS: +0/-0; ST +0/-1.

Sam Carrick, 3. Hmm. He charged into the corner and failed to cover off the scorer Bobby McMann on Toronto’s first goal. He led the team with four hits. GAS: +0/-2; ST +0/-0.

Connor Brown, 4. Solid shifts in the second where he got a solid shot and won some o-zone board battles. GAS: +0/-0; ST +0/-1.

Evan Bouchard, 3. Hard slapper on net on the power play early on. He got caught tired on Toronto’s third goal, beat bad by Auston Matthews in the corner. He set up Drai’s harpoon on a second period PP but no goal. Stopped a 3-on-1 rush just before Toronto scored on a second 3-on-1 rush. He and Ekholm failed with flimsy stick checks to stop passes on Toronto’s fifth goal. Bouch directed a team high 12 shots at net, four of them hitting the target. He also played a team high 28:26. GAS: +1/-3; ST +1/-1.

Mattias Ekholm, 3. Struggled. missed the net early on a wide-open slot shot, then failed to cover Nylander swooping in for a 5-alarmer. He was one of the Edmonton players running around and beat by a pass on Toronto’s third goal. He was also a culprit on the fifth goal. GAS: +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

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Darnell Nurse, 3. One super bad moment. He got caught flat-footed at the blueline, then coasted back into the battle, leading to Toronto’s first goal. He failed to block the pass on Toronto’s fourth goal. He stared the third in the box with a two-minute roughing penalty and a ten-minute misconduct. GAS: +1/-2; ST +0/-0.

Vincent Desharnais, 3. He looked rusty after two games off due to injury. He lost the race-to-the-puck and allowed the pass into the slot on the first Leafs goal. GAS: +1/-1; ST +0/-2.

Brett Kulak, 4. He drove a hard slapper on net from the top of the circles in the second, but made three mistakes on Grade A shots. GAS: +0/-3; ST +0/-0.

Cody Ceci, 5. He drove a hard shot on net late in the second and he wasn’t a big part of the general carnage of the Leafs first and second period onslaught. GAS: +0/-1; ST +0/-0.

Stuart Skinner, 4. He let in five goals on nine shots early on, most of them on wicked shots, yes, but there weren’t enough wicked saves. Not much chance on the first goal against, a 5-alarmer. But came up huge on two crease shots, one by Knies, the second by Nylander. Tough tip brought on Toronto’s second goal. The Leafs passed the puck around him on the third goal, then he got beat on a 3-on-1 on the fourth and missed a hard slot shot off a cross-seam pass on the fifth. GAS: +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

Calvin Pickard, 7. A couple big saves when he came in for the third.

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