TORONTO - A sweep of Eastern Canada has the Edmonton Oilers climbing the NHL standings.
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped all 33 shots he faced and Taylor Hall scored twice Thursday as Edmonton beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-0, giving the Oilers their third road win four nights.
They earned victories in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto with three different goaltenders. Khabibulin was making his first start after missing seven games with a groin injury.
Jordan Eberle, Sam Gagner and Ryan Jones also scored for the Oilers (9-12-4).
Toronto's record to fell to 8-12-4 after being shut out for the sixth time this season.
The Maple Leafs have hit a new low after dropping 16 of their last 20 games, sinking to 28th overall in the NHL standings. The restless home crowd expressed its displeasure by booing at the start of the second intermission and throughout the final period.
The outlook has changed considerably for Edmonton since coach Tom Renney blasted his team last week, calling them a joke following a loss in Phoenix. The Oilers have gone 4-1-0 since.
Playing for the second time in as many nights, they made the most of limited opportunities in the offensive zone against Toronto.
Eberle scored his fifth of the season just 3:10 into the game, racing up the right side and around defenceman Tomas Kaberle before beating Jonas Gustavsson from a bad angle.
A highlight-reel goal from Hall made it 2-0 early in the second period. He skated around Francois Beauchemin and roofed a backhander at 6:10 -- prompting Leafs coach Ron Wilson to send in J.S. Giguere for Gustavsson.
It didn't do much to shake up his listless team. Gagner ended Toronto's comeback hopes by skating hard to the net and knocking a rebound past Giguere with 2.6 seconds left in the middle period.
Khabibulin's second shutout of the season was without a signature save. His toughest tests both came off the stick of Nazem Kadri -- with Khabibulin getting his glove on a quick shot in the first period before denying a wraparound attempt in the middle frame.
As the minutes ticked down, several fans chanted "Fire Wilson!" -- referring to Leafs coach Ron Wilson -- before many headed to the exits early.
Hall and Jones scored 34 seconds apart late in the game for Edmonton, which moved ahead of Toronto in the overall standings with the victory.
The Leafs know exactly where they stand.
"We've got standings boards in our practice rink and here at the ACC, so we're updated every day," defenceman Luke Schenn said Thursday morning.
Notes: Ales Hemsky, J.F. Jacques and Jason Strudwick didn't play for the Oilers ... Toronto scratched Keith Aulie ... Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf missed his 13th game with a laceration on his left leg ... It was Gustavsson's seventh straight start in goal for Toronto ... Announced attendance was 19,465.
