EDMONTON – Showdowns between the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs rarely disappoint.
They may not have met in the playoffs before, but they sure play like they have. If they ever do – it’d be the Stanley Cup final, barring a format change – it has the makings of a true classic.
That post-season vibe continued on Saturday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton as the Oilers looked to avenge a 4-3 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs in November. Edmonton took the lead twice in that first matchup but couldn’t seal the deal.
This time, Edmonton dominated in the shot chart 48-28. They controlled much of the play. But they still gave Toronto too much, with 12 giveaways, two costly penalties and an unsuccessful penalty kill, going 0-for-2 in another 4-3 loss to the Leafs.
“It’s just one of those nights – we might have been overzealous to get playing, and it shuts our brain off, and those are just little things,” Oilers right winger Corey Perry said post-game. “You change those in the course of the game, and it comes back and it can haunt you, and it did tonight.”
Slowing down Auston Matthews (two assists), William Nylander (one goal) and Mitch Marner (game-winning goal and an assist) will be the key to their next matchup. But when will that be?
The Oilers have a 16.8-percent chance of making the Stanley Cup final this year, the sixth-best odds, according to moneypuck.com. Toronto has 5.8-percent odds of making the final, putting them behind the Ottawa Senators among Canadian squads.
Of course, neither team has been as good this year as the league-leading Winnipeg Jets, which have a 23.1-percent chance of making the final and 12.3-percent odds to win the Cup, the highest chances in the NHL, per Money Puck.
With that, here’s Avry Lewis-McDougall’s video column from Edmonton:
(Don’t see the video? Click here.)
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