Maple Leafs eye western Canadian road-trip sweep vs. Oilers

Toronto Maple Leafs' John Tavares (91) and Edmonton Oilers' Vasily Podkolzin (92) battle for the puck during third period NHL action in Edmonton, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to make it a clean western Canadian sweep Tuesday night in Edmonton.

The Maple Leafs (26-21-9) will be playing their second game on back-to-back nights at downtown’s Rogers Place, having beaten the Flames 4-2 on Monday in Calgary.

Forward William Nylander paced the Maple Leafs in his return to the lineup from injury, recording a goal and two assists, while winger Matias Maccelli, defenceman Troy Stecher, a former Oiler, and forward Bobby McMann, into an empty net, also scored.

The win in Calgary was Toronto’s second in a row following a 0-5-1 winless skid they had snapped on Saturday with a victory in Vancouver over the Canucks.

The Oilers (28-20-8), meanwhile, have now given up 25 goals over their last five games. While three of those contests ended in wins, Edmonton couldn’t outscore its defensive woes on Saturday as they hosted the Minnesota Wild.

In that game, Oilers goalie Tristan Jarry surrendered five goals on 20 shots to the Wild before getting pulled in the second period in favour of Connor Ingram, who made seven saves as the visitors triumphed 7-3.

But as Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch and his players have pointed out, their defensive misery is a team problem, not one that lies strictly with netminding.

“We could get a save or two more, but you look at the other night (Saturday vs. Wild), overall, our defence as a team has to be better,” Knoblauch said Monday after practice. “The defencemen can play better. Our forwards can definitely play better. It’s a commitment overall from our team to play better defensively.”

Jarry said while the Oilers “were on the wrong side of it” in Saturday’s loss, some of the shots the Oilers have been allowing are “tough.”

“It’s a lot of Grade A (scoring chances), a lot of breakdowns,” Jarry said.

“It’s tough to really think about (my) game at this point. It’s a whole team game ... Everyone knows that when we play the game that we want, that’s the game that we want to put on the ice and that’ll put us on the better side of things more so than not, but to be on that side, we have to tighten up and eliminate some of the chances.”

Knoblauch said Tuesday after his team’s optional morning skate that if the Oilers want to have success long-term, they’ve got to be better defensively.

“It’s been pretty much the story all season, about getting better in that area,” he said. “Maybe we need to make some adjustments over the break or definitely (pay) attention to more details, being more aware of that. We’re just too willing to exchange chances, and ultimately, that’s been hurting us.”

Monday’s game (6:30 p.m. start) will be the second of two meetings between the Oilers and the Maple Leafs this season. Edmonton won the first game 6-3 on Dec. 13 in Toronto in Jarry’s debut with the Oilers following a trade with Pittsburgh for goalie Stuart Skinner.

Oilers star Connor McDavid said after the morning skate that, with Tuesday night’s game against Toronto and Wednesday’s in Calgary against the Flames being the last two on their schedule before a two-and-a-half week Olympic break, it’s “really important” for his team to pile up as many wins as possible in a tight Pacific Division race.

The Oilers sit second behind the Vegas Golden Knights in the division – tied points-wise with 64 each but with Vegas having played one less game – with the Seattle Kraken and the Anaheim Ducks each three points behind, the Los Angeles Kings four behind and the San Jose Sharks six back.

“Obviously, the playoff race is really tight,” said McDavid, who leads the National Hockey League in scoring with 95 points (34 goals, 61 assists in 56 games). “We’ve got to get points on the board.”

Projected Oilers lineup

Forward

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins • Connor McDavid • Zach Hyman
• Vasily Podkolzin • Leon Draisaitl • Kasperi Kapanen
• Matt Savoie • Josh Samanski • Jack Roslovic
• Mattias Janmark • Trent Frederic • Andrew Mangiapane

Defence

• Mattias Ekholm • Evan Bouchard
• Darnell Nurse • Jake Walman
• Spencer Stastney • Ty Emberson

Goal

• Connor Ingram • Tristan Jarry

Projected Maple Leafs lineup

Forward

• Bobby McMann • Auston Matthews • Max Domi
• Matias Maccelli • John Tavares • William Nylander
• Matthew Knies • Nicolas Roy • Nicholas Robertson
• Steven Lorentz • Scott Laughton • Calle Jarnkrok

Defence

• Jake McCabe • Brandon Carlo
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson • Troy Stecher
• Simon Benoit • Philippe Myers

Goal

• Anthony Stolarz • Joseph Woll