Maple Leafs ride McElhinney to shutout of Oilers

Dec 11, 2017 - 2:53 AM TORONTO -- Backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney earned his first shutout of the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs made Zach Hyman's goal in the first minute of the game stand up for a 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.

McElhinney, who was playing in his fifth game of the season, made 41 saves, some spectacular, in picking up his sixth career shutout.

He improved to 6-0-0 in his career against Edmonton.

The Maple Leafs (20-10-1) were without center Auston Matthews, who was sidelined due to an upper-body injury, in winning their third consecutive game.

Laurent Brossoit stopped 22 shots for the Oilers (12-16-2).

With a revamped first line because of the injury to Matthews, the Maple Leafs scored 34 seconds into the first period when Hyman tipped in a point shot from Jake Gardiner for his sixth goal. William Nylander passed the puck back to Gardiner to earn the other assist.

The Maple Leafs had a five-on-three advantage for 18 seconds during the second period, but Edmonton held them off. When Toronto's advantage was reduced to a five-on-four power play, Edmonton's Connor McDavid was stopped by McElhinney on a breakaway.

The Oilers went on a five-on-three power play at 17:38 of the second when Toronto had simultaneous penalties -- Roman Polak for cross-checking and Mitch Marner for tripping -- but did not score. McElhinney produced some big saves during the Oilers' barrage.

NOTES: Toronto C William Nylander moved onto the first line between LW Zach Hyman and RW Connor Brown after C Auston Matthews (upper-body injury) was scratched from the game Sunday. Maple Leafs D Connor Carrick and RW Nikita Soshnikov also were not in uniform for the game. ... Toronto G Frederik Andersen was given the night off Sunday after a 4-3 road win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. ... Edmonton LW Nathan Walker, LW Anton Slepyshev and D Eric Gryba did not suit up. ... Toronto FC, winners of the MLS Cup on Saturday, was honored before the opening faceoff. ... Edmonton completes a three-game trip Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. ... The Maple Leafs will visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.