OILERS (12-15-2) at MAPLE LEAFS (19-10-1) 7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, NHLN, NHL.TV
Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said some players, including Matthews, were "bumped and bruised." Matthews did not come out for warmup. Josh Leivo will skate in his place. Matthews took an accidental hit to the head when he collided with teammate Morgan Rielly with 2:50 remaining in the third period of a 4-3 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. He stayed on the bench and played two more shifts prior to the end of the game. It would have been the fourth head-to-head meeting between Matthews and Oilers center Connor McDavid. The Maple Leafs are 3-0-0 in their past three games against the Oilers; Matthews and McDavid each have three points (two goals, one assist) and are minus-1 in those games.
Players to watch
McDavid has five points (one goal, four assists) during a four-game point streak. He had two assists in the Oilers' 6-2 win at the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bozak ended a streak of four games without a point with three points (two goals, one assist) against the Penguins. The goals were his first since scoring twice in a 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 4, and they ended a 13-game goalless streak.
They said it
"I don't think it really matters. It's two teams that are going to play hard so it should be an entertaining game." -- Oilers coach Todd McLellan on playing on back-to-back nights. "I want to play against the best players, that's why I dreamt about playing in the NHL. For me it just makes me feel comfortable knowing who I'm going to play against." -- Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri on matching up against Connor McDavid.
McElhinney will start for the first time since a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Nov. 25. ... Marleau is one point away from 1,100 in his NHL career.
Stat pack
Khaira has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past four games. … Lucic has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past three games.
