Oilers at Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs go after their fifth win in six games when they host the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday in a battle of preseason Stanley Cup favorites who have gone in opposite directions. The Maple Leafs held on to knock off Pittsburgh 4-3 on Saturday and solidify second place the Atlantic Division while the Oilers continued their roller-coaster campaign with a 6-2 triumph at Montreal.
Toronto was outshot 84-54 in its last two games but managed to post a 2-1 shootout win over Calgary on Wednesday and got two goals from Tyler Bozak en route to the impressive triumph at Pittsburgh. The Maple Leafs, who can become the second team in the Eastern Conference to reach 20 wins, got the victory over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions without a point from leading scorer Auston Matthews (13 goals, 13 assists) but received four assists from their defense corps. Inconsistent Edmonton is starting to get its offense in gear with 33 goals in the last eight games, winning five times in that span after pounding the Canadiens. The Oilers hope to keep getting secondary scoring as reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid (team-best 35 points) has managed just one goal in his last nine contests.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, TVA
ABOUT THE OILERS (12-15-2): Power forward Milan Lucic has raised his production level with seven points in six games after notching a goal and an assist in Saturday’s victory. Lucic is tied with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl for second on the team with 21 points, and Jujhar Khaira has collected five in his last four contests after scoring twice on Saturday. Coach Todd McLellan shook things up against Montreal by making Drake Caggiula a healthy scratch, while Ryan Strome snapped his four-game point drought with a pair of assists.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (19-10-1): Matthews has not added a point to his total in the last two games and was held without a shot for the second time in five contests on Saturday. James van Riemsdyk scored his team-leading 14th goal against Pittsburgh and defenseman Morgan Rielly recorded an assist to become the fifth player on the team to reach 20 points on the season. Frederik Andersen made 33 saves on Saturday but is expected to be rested against Edmonton in favor of backup Curtis McElhinney (2-2-0, 3.07 goals-against average, .900 save percentage).
OVERTIME
1. The Maple Leafs have won the last three meetings, including a 6-4 triumph on Nov. 30 behind a three-point performance from C William Nylander.
2. Edmonton LW Mike Cammalleri scored his first goal with the team on Saturday, giving him five points in 10 games since being acquired from Los Angeles.
3. Toronto C Patrick Marleau is one point shy of 1,100 for his career but has been limited to just one in his last six games.