PREVIEW: Oilers at Maple Leafs

The Edmonton Oilers begin a six-game road trip starting with the first of a weekend back-to-back against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Maple Leafs

TORONTO, ON – Two Canadian sides currently on two very different trajectories.

The Edmonton Oilers will look to begin a six-game road trip by winning their fourth straight game on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who've been reeling since the last time these two teams met in Edmonton on Oct. 24.

After handing the Oilers their biggest loss of the season last month in a 7-2 defeat, the Maple Leafs have lost seven of their last eight games, seemingly unable to capitalize on any of that momentum they generated at Rogers Place, while the Blue & Orange have gone the other direction with a 6-1-2 record over their last nine contests.

There's opportunity at redemption for Edmonton, who sit atop the Pacific Division at 14-3-3 and is looking to take advantage of their opponents' poor form by keeping the focus on their own internal process, which has paid off so far early this season.

The Leafs are 0-5-0 on their current homestand and will try to avoid their longest regulation losing streak since 2014-15, which would also be the first time they've lost six in a row at home since 1985-86.

"We played them not too long ago, and they beat us pretty good on home ice, so you want to come in and play your game and take care of business," Zach Hyman said.

The road has been a place where the Oilers have thrived, owning the best record in the NHL away from home at 7-0-1 and representing their best road start in franchise history. Edmonton has won both of its last two visits to Toronto, but the Maple Leafs have been their toughest out with a 7-18-3 record against them since 2016-17.

Babcock will return to Scotiabank Arena for the first time since he coached the Maple Leafs in 2019-20.

Despite winning their last two games, the Oilers are working to iron out the details they think can be better, while recognizing their game's in a good enough spot that their 'B' game will be good enough on some nights to get the job done.

"They fed us their lunch last time we played them. They were way better than us," Head Coach Mike Babcock said. "So I think every time that happens, you get a chance to look at your group and how to get better. We think we can be way better than we've been the last two nights we've played, so we're just going to try to take a step to get better. 

"The reality is we're going to focus on our team and try to get better. Wherever you're playing, and whatever time they make you play, you've got to enjoy that process of getting better."

BY THE NUMBERS

• Connor McDavid is riding a 20-game point streak (11G, 38A), becoming the fourth different player in NHL history with a season-opening 20-game point streak.
• McDavid also became the eighth player with multiple point streaks of 20+ games after Wayne Gretzky (7x), Mario Lemieux (2x), Guy Lafleur (2x), Patrick Kane (2x), Steve Yzerman (2x), Brett Hull (2x) and Adam Oates (2x).
• Leon Draisaitl registered an assist in Wednesday's overtime win over the Flyers to stretch his point streak to seven, totalling six goals and seven assists.
• The German recorded his 638th career helper and needs four more to tie Mark Messier for the third most in franchise history.
• Mattias Ekholm is the third Oilers player currently riding a point streak, recording points in five straight (1G, 4A) and has seven points over his last eight games.
• After scoring twice against the Flyers, Zach Hyman now has three points (2G, 1A) over his last three games. Hyman is now sitting on 499 career points (264G, 235A)