Oilers Rally to Beat Maple Leafs and Extend Win Streak to 11

In what felt like a playoff atmosphere, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers battled it out on Tuesday night at Rogers Place, which had everything you could ask for. Coming into the game, the two teams were heading in different directions, with the Maple Leafs having lost three straight and the Oilers looking to extend their 10-game winning streak. The Maple Leafs managed to jump out to a 2-0 lead, but the Oilers rallied in the third to shock Toronto for a 4-2 victory and their 11th straight win. With the thrilling victory, the Oilers improved to (24-15-1) for 49 points. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs have all of the sudden dropped their fourth straight and fell to (21-13-8) for 50 points. 

The Maple Leafs would quickly grab a 1-0 lead just 27 seconds into the opening period, as center Auston Matthews would score his NHL-leading 34th goal of the season after a cross-ice pass from Mitch Marner. In the second period, at 10:52, defenseman Morgan Rielly knocked in a loose puck to extend Toronto’s lead to 2-0. With under five minutes left in the middle period, center Leon Draisaitl would cut the Maple Leafs’ lead to 2-1 on a backhand shot from the right center. To open up the third period, the Oilers would tie the game up at 2-2, following a one-timer by center Derek Ryan on a behind-the-net pass from Ryan McLeod. 

At 16:55, McLeod would put Edmonton in front, when he gathered a Cody Ceci shot from behind the net, skated out in front of the net, and sent a shot past goalie Martin Jones for a 3-2 lead. With under two minutes remaining in regulation, defenseman Evan Bouchard would seal the Oilers’ victory on an empty-net goal for the 4-2 final. Following the win, Oilers’ goalie Stuart Skinner, who had 25 saves, spoke on the playoff atmosphere. “It did feel like a playoff game. It was so loud in there. It was a little bit of a reminder of how the playoffs were last year,” Skinner continued, “It makes it a lot of fun. I’m glad we were able to beat Toronto and beat the Toronto fans out there.” Skinner and the Oilers will look to extend the longest active NHL win streak to 12 games when they host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.