Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs defeat Oilers

EDMONTON -- Auston Matthews scored his 10th goal of the season and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves to help the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Tuesday.
Matthews, the No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft, has scored in each of his past three games.
"I think we stuck to the game plan, the whole 60 minutes and we didn't get away from it too much," Matthews said. "We got pucks in deep and kind of just played heavy down there, grinding them down low. They're a very good rush team so we wanted to eliminate that from them, so I think we did a pretty good job of that tonight."

WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Oilers highlights
James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri and Zach Hyman also scored for Toronto (10-8-4).
Connor McDavid, the top pick in the 2015 draft, and Andrej Sekera scored for Edmonton (12-10-2), which has lost three in a row. Cam Talbot made 10 saves in two periods before being replaced at the start of the third by Jonas Gustavsson, who made nine saves.
"We had some chances to do some damage [on the power play] but we didn't capitalize," McDavid said. "We had a 5-on-3 and didn't convert. That could have changed the momentum."
Van Riemsdyk gave the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead at 2:49 of the second period when he was left unattended in front of the net and put a shot past Talbot.
Sekera made it 2-1 at 4:50 on a shot from the point that found its way through a crowd in front and past Andersen.

Kadri scored what proved to be the game-winning goal when he capitalized on a turnover at 6:00 of the second period to give Toronto a 3-1 lead.
"It was a good win for our team, obviously. We were in the box way too much, which is disappointing," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "I didn't see it that way, but they don't care what I think. I thought the kill was real good, we scored timely goals and I thought we did a lot of good things. We started heavy in the offensive zone in the first period in particular. Any time you're on the road and you can get the lead, obviously that's positive."
The Oilers had an excellent opportunity with a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:10 but were unable to capitalize, and Hyman scored 21 seconds after the second penalty expired to give Toronto a 4-1 lead at 17:58 of the second period.
"The second period, we didn't give up more than four chances and they got three goals," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "The difference between the two teams tonight was they valued checking. It was really important to them. We neglected it. The team that values it wins the game. The team that checks better eventually wins the game, and they did."

Goal of the game

Shortly after coming out of the penalty box, Matthews went to the front of the Oilers net and redirected a pass from William Nylander past Talbot 5:45 into the game to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.

Save of the game

With 1:40 left in the second period, Andersen made an outstanding glove save on a shot from Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl.

Unsung moment of the game

Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner won a battle for the puck behind the Oilers net against defensemen Oscar Klefbom and Kris Russell, which led to van Riemsdyk's goal.

Highlight of the game

McDavid scored at 3:58 of the third period when he took a pass from Milan Lucic, blew past Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly and lifted a shot over Andersen to make it 4-2.

They said it

"I think that when you look at our team, I think that speed is one thing that stands out. So when you play teams like Edmonton with the amount of speed that they had and the amount of skill that they have, it's important that we have our legs with us, we're skating and we're keeping up with them. I think that was a bit part of what happened tonight." -- Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly
"It's almost like we were kind of waiting for the first thing to happen rather than going out there and making it happen. That is still something we are learning as a young group. No matter who you are playing, you have to get up for the games. It starts here in this dressing room and creating that emotion before the puck drops. As the season goes on, games mean more and more. Hopefully, we can learn our lesson and bring the right kind of emotion right off the start." -- Oilers forward Milan Lucic
"I love playing against the best players. I think it really brings out the best in me. I think collectively as a team, we did a great job on the road and that's what we need." -- Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri

Need to know

The hooking penalty Matthews was assessed in the first period was the first penalty of his NHL career. … McDavid extended his scoring streak to six games (six goals, six assists). … Oilers forward Benoit Pouliot does not have a point in his past 14 games.

What's next

Maple Leafs: At the Calgary Flames on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; SN, NHL.TV)
Oilers:At the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; TSN 3, SNOL, NHL.TV)