Jamie Nye: Leafs’ three-game sweep of Edmonton proves this is a one-team division

The Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs were separated by four points going into this week.

The week featured three head-to-head games between the top two teams in the NHL’s North Division.

And it wasn’t even close. The Leafs outscored the Oilers 13-1 over those three games and now have a nine-point lead over the Winnipeg Jets, who have jumped over Edmonton in the standings.

What are we learning this season?

The Atlantic Division is something else in the NHL and when the Leafs don’t have to play the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, they’re an excellent team.

We are also learning how mediocre, or worse, the other six teams in Canada are. There’s inconsistent play all over the place, while the Maple Leafs are starting to look like a hardened team that knows what it takes to play big divisional games.

And remember that embarrassing loss to the Ottawa Senators a few weeks ago? The Leafs have seven wins and one loss since. A loss like that used to shake their confidence. Now it’s just another sign of continued maturity forming in the Leafs’ locker room.