Following back-to-back overtime wins at home, the Edmonton Oilers have hit the road for a three-game trip against the Canadian teams in the Eastern Conference. First up, the Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada.
1. The Oilers are currently riding their longest winning streak of the 2024-25 season at three games. It began with a commanding 7-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on the road and continued with the aforementioned overtime wins over the New York Islanders and Nashville Predators. The team has scored 14 goals over the winning streak, the most goals they’ve scored during any three-game stretch they’ve had this year.
Extended winning streaks were a significant part of Edmonton’s success in 2023-24. It was on American Thanksgiving in late November that the Oilers started an eight-game streak that pulled them back into the playoffs after a terrible start in October. The 16-game heater that nearly matched the NHL record for longest winning streak started a month later.
2. The first meeting between the Oilers and Leafs in 2023-24 came during the 16-game winning streak, as the Leafs came into Edmonton and were dropped by a score of 4-2. Toronto hosted the second meeting against the Oilers in March and responded with a 6-3 win.
The last time the Oilers won a game in Toronto was back when both teams were playing in the All-Canadian North Division during the pandemic-shortened 2021 season. The Leafs won six of nine games against the Oilers in that year’s season series and the two teams appeared poised to meet in the playoffs after finishing first and second in the division’s standings. Instead, Edmonton got swept by the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto blew a 3-1 series lead to the Montreal Canadiens.
3. This trip against the Eastern Canadian teams will be an interesting test for the Oilers. As mentioned above, the Oilers have had a difficult time in Toronto over the past few years and they haven’t done much better in Ottawa and Montreal.
The Leafs are in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 10-6-2 record, just one point behind the Florida Panthers with one game in hand. The Senators are in the mix for a playoff spot with an 8-7-1 record and the Habs are in the basement at 5-10-2. Toronto has a 7-3-0 record at home, Ottawa is 5-2-1, and Montreal is 3-4-1.
After the game in Toronto on Saturday, the Oilers will play on back-to-back nights in Montreal and Ottawa on Monday and Tuesday.
4. The Oilers will again be going with 11 skaters and seven defencemen as Viktor Arvidsson remains out with an undisclosed injury. Corey Perry moved up into Arvidsson’s usual spot with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin in Edmonton’s last game against the Preds on Thursday. Draisaitl also played a few shifts with Jeff Skinner and Derek Ryan, who were the two forwards on the fourth line.
The top-four defenders did much of the heavy lifting against Nashville, with Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, and Brett Kulak all logging more than 20 minutes. Ty Emberson logged 13:36 on the third pairing with Troy Stecher and Travis Dermott playing 8:15 and 5:44 respectively.
5. The Leafs have been without captain Auston Matthews for the last five games because of an injury and the team has gone 4-1-0 in his absence.
William Nylander has led the way in Toronto this season with 12 goals and 20 points through 18 games while John Tavares and Mitch Marner have combined for 12 goals on the team’s other top-six forward line. The Leafs are struggling to get depth scoring and they need Max Domi to get going, as he hasn’t scored a goal through 16 games.
Former Oiler Anthony Stolarz has been rock-solid in his first season with the Leafs, posting a .930 save percentage through 11 starts. Stolarz is expected to start for Toronto and Edmonton will counter with Stuart Skinner, who has a .881 save percentage on the season.
