2. Know Your Enemy
This is the second of a four-game road swing for the Leafs, who opened the trip with a 4-3 win over the Oilers on Saturday, snapping a three-game losing streak.
The Buds got off to a quick start, scoring three in the first 6:18, courtesy of William Nylander, Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann, before Mitch Marner supplied a third-period dagger to round out the offence.
Corey Perry and Zach Hyman brought the Oilers back within one, before Leon Draisaitl’s game-tying goal was called off due to an offside challenge with 2:02 to play.
Marner (1G, 1A) and Auston Matthews (2A) each had multi-point efforts, while Joseph Woll made a season-high 45 saves in the victory.
“They’re a good team, obviously, and they made a good push, and I was just doing everything in my power to keep the puck out of the net,” Woll told reporters after the game. “It was a good win for us, a big win.
“It was our fans that were pretty loud, pretty on par with theirs. It was cool, regardless of who the fans are cheering for, it always ups the emotion and the intensity of the game. It was a lot of fun, a great building to play in.”
The Oilers outshot the Leafs 34-16 in the final 40 minutes. That didn’t sit particularly well with Leafs head coach and former Flames enforcer Craig Berube, who felt his team sat back after building an early lead.
But he certainly gave props to his troupe for sticking with it and earning the two points in what he described as a playoff-style game.
“We could've made a harder push,” Berube said. “I think that we let them come at us. But they're a very good team and we know that. They've got great players. We did a lot of good things, but I think we could've been more aggressive with the lead.
“I’m not critiquing the win, because a win’s a win.
“Woll was great and the guys battled.”
The Leafs come into tonight’s game three points back of the Florida Panthers for first in the Atlantic Division, with two games in hand.
Marner tops the team scoring charts with 70 points (16G, 54), while Nylander – second place with 52 points – is Toronto’s leading goal-getter with 30 on the year, and only 10 back of his career high with 30 games left.
Matthews, meanwhile, has missed a big chunk of the year due to injury, but that has hardly slowed his production.
The 2016 first-overall pick has 20 goals and 20 assists in 37 games.