Oilers Gameday – @ Maple Leafs

The Edmonton Oilers conclude a five game road trip tonight in Toronto with a chance to salvage the trip and finish at .500, 2-2-1, with a win. This is the first of two meetings between the Oilers and Maple Leafs this season, the lone one in Toronto.

The Oilers will be without F’s Connor McDavid, Nail Yakupov and Rob Klinkhammer tonight, all of whom are currently on the IR. F Luke Gazdic and D’s Andrew Ference and Eric Gryba are expected to be the healthy scratches tonight. Toronto will be without D Stephane Robidas, F Joffrey Lupul and G James Reimer tonight, all injured.

Anders Nilsson starts for the Oilers while Garrett Sparks makes his NHL debut for the Maple Leafs.

Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers were in Pittsburgh on Saturday night to battle the Penguins. Edmonton got off to a great start, beating Jeff Zatkoff just 2:02 in as Leon Draisaitl slid home a rebound. Lauri Korpikoski would tip an Andrej Sekera shot past Zatkoff on the power-play at the 7:30 mark to give the Oil a commanding 2-0 lead.

The lead did not last, mainly because Evgeni Malkin decided to take the game over. Malkin scored a beautiful goal just 48 seconds in to get Pittsburgh within one, then he tied the game with a bomb of a shot on the power-play at the 3:29 mark. Both goalies stood tall the rest of the way, sending us to overtime.

OT solved nothing and the sides headed to a shootout, the first of the year for Edmonton. Matt Hendricks and Jordan Eberle would both score while Anders Nilsson stopped David Perron and Sidney Crosby to seal Edmonton’s 3-2 victory.

Toronto: The Leafs hosted the Caps on Saturday night. The sides played an even first period, trading a pair of goals compliments of Jason Chimera and Peter Holland. The Caps took over in the middle frame, however, opening the scoring dam.

Tom Wilson put Washington up 4:06 into the second, but the lead only lasted briefly as Leo Komarov knotted things up two minutes later. The Caps kept pushing, however, and finally broke the tie for good at the 11:08 mark compliments of a Marcus Johansson goal. Justin Williams would add some insurance at the 13:26 mark.

Braden Holtby would stop all 14 Toronto shots in the third period to seal the Caps’ 4-2 victory on the road.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Leafs last met in Edmonton back in March. The Oilers dominated this tilt, effectively putting the Leafs out of it in the first eleven minutes. Benoit Pouliot would score twice while Jordan Eberle and Anton Lander also tallied markers in the first portion of the game.

James Van Riemsdyk would score at the 13:27 mark of the first period, but that would be all the damage the Leafs could muster. Ben Scrivens would stop 28 shots to seal Edmonton’s dominating 4-1 victory.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Pucks on net early tonight is absolutely key for the Oilers. Garrett Sparks has had a good AHL season thus far, but he’s no doubt going to have nerves in his first NHL start. If the Oilers can test him early and often, they’ll have a chance to spoil his debut.

Toronto: Play a structured game tonight. The Leafs under Mike Babcock have been playing a far more structured game and its showing. They are at their best when they follow the system to a tee. If they an play a strong and structured style against a young Edmonton team tonight, they’ll create the chances they need to upend the Oil.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: I was very impressed with Jujhar Khaira on Saturday night, I thought he did a lot right in his NHL debut. Tonight the pressure is off, he’s just another player on the ice. I’ll be interested to see if the big forward shows a little progress tonight now that he knows what to expect a little bit at this level. He’s an interesting prospect to me.

Toronto: Garrett Spark is making his NHL debut in net tonight, making him a player to keep an eye on. His strong season in the AHL has caught the eye of many, and some believe he can be the goalie of the future for the Maple Leafs. I always enjoy players making their debut and will be keeping a close eye on him tonight.

Quick Hits:

Teddy Purcell is one of the hottest Oilers right now, scoring five points in his last seven tilts. Andrej Sekera also has two points in his last two games. The home team won each game between these two last season, while the Leafs have won three of the last four meetings overall. The Leafs are 3-5-3 on home ice this season currently, while Edmonton is 4-9-1 on the road.

Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Lauri Korpikoski – Mark Letestu – Iiro Pakarinen

Jujhar Khaira – Anton Lander – Matt Hendricks

Darnell Nurse – Andrej Sekera

Oscar Klefbom – Mark Fayne

Brandon Davidson – Justin Schultz

Anders Nilsson

Toronto Maple Leafs Lines:

James Van Riemsdyk – Nazem Kadri – Leo Komarov

Shawn Matthias – Tyler Bozak – P.A. Parenteau

Daniel Winnik – Nick Spaling – Michael Grabner

Peter Holland – Byron Froese – Brad Boyes

Jake Gardiner – Dion Phaneuf

Matt Hunwick – Morgan Rielly

Martin Marincin – Roman Polak

Garrett Sparks