GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Leafs 2

EDMONTON, AB – Ryan McLeod recorded a goal and assist, including the game-winner with 3:05 remaining in regulation, as the Edmonton Oilers extended their franchise record win streak to 11 games on Tuesday night with a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Rogers Place.

The Mississauga, Ont. product set up Derek Ryan's equalizer less than three minutes into the final period to make it 2-2 before notching his eighth goal of the season in the late stages of the contest to secure the Oilers their 11th straight win and the two points over the Maple Leafs, who've now lost four straight games after holding multi-goal leads in each defeat.

"When you win ten in a row, it's a pretty confident group going into the third period," McLeod said. "You think you're going to win many games, so we kind of just went in with that confidence and came out on top."

Evan Bouchard added an empty-netter for his 11th of the year, and Leon Draisaitl scored his 21st goal of the campaign on a deceptive backhand tally in the second period to get the Oilers on the board after finding themselves down 2-0 to the Maple Leafs off goals from Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly.

"Winning always feels great, but we've worked extremely hard to put ourselves back in it and by no means are we anywhere where we can let off the gas," Draisaitl said. "That's something that we need to be aware of and I thought we did a great job of that tonight again. We're not even halfway through the season yet, so there's lots of hockey left to be played."

Netminder Stuart Skinner recorded his eighth straight victory with 25 saves, outduelling Toronto goaltender Martin Jones, who stopped 29-of-32 shots from the Blue & Orange.

The Oilers look to continue building on their franchise-best winning streak on Thursday when they welcome the Seattle Kraken to Rogers Place.

FIRST PERIOD

That's not the guy you want to leave unmarked in the offensive zone.

The Oilers knew coming into Tuesday night that if they were going to continue building on their franchise-record 10-game winning run, there were a few names like William Nylander, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews up front who they'd have to contain to keep Toronto and their well-attended fans quiet inside Rogers Place.

Early on, the Maple Leafs proved they were going to be a lot to handle.

It took Auston Matthews just 27 seconds to give Toronto the 1-0 lead and the visiting Blue & White in the bowl something to cheer about when the League's leading goalscorer notched his 34th of the campaign in the opening minute off a circle-to-circle feed from Marner.

"It did feel a bit of like a playoff game. It was so loud in there," Skinner said. "It was a little bit of a reminder of what playoffs was like last year, so it definitely makes it a lot of fun and I'm glad that were able to beat Toronto and beat the Toronto fans."

Before the two-minute mark, Tyler Bertuzzi would put the Oilers back on high alert by redirecting Calle Jarnkrok's quick pass off the right post behind Stuart Skinner to come close to giving the Maple Leafs an early two-goal lead.

"I think it's happened the last three or four games in a row. We let the very first shot, and then we pretty well shut it down after that," Skinner said. "So for myself, there's a lot of game left – especially when it happens in the first. So just trying to refocus, get back to doing my job, and that's the same with the guys in front of me."

The Oilers began to settle into the game after an early flurry from the Maple Leafs, with their captain Connor McDavid leading the charge with four hits and two shots in 7:38 of ice time in the opening 20 minutes.

Both of McDavid's shots on goal were high-quality chances, but Martin Jones was looking up to the challenge in the opening frame with 12 saves. There's no other player in the NHL with more goals in his career against Jones than McDavid, who has 12 career tallies against the former Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken shot-stopper.

Skinner made the sharpest of his six saves in the opening frame by making a terrific sliding stop on Pontus Holmberg with 2:20 left in the first frame to keep it a one-goal game heading into the intermission. The shot-stopper also took a hard hit from Tavares in the opening frame, which was one of two big blows he took from Maple Leafs forwards trying to crash the net.

"The one with Tavares, he was really nice about it afterwards," Skinner said. "He kind of just ran into me and got a piece of my leg. I kind of just waited a couple of seconds just because sometimes, you don't feel anything from adrenaline, but I was all good. I skated it off."

SECOND PERIOD

Edmonton's task of extending their franchise-record win streak against Toronto got that much harder down 2-0 in the middle frame when Morgan Rielly scrapped his seventh goal of the season under Skinner's arm and into the back of the net at 9:08 of the period.

It took Zach Hyman all of 12 seconds to respond decisively for the Oilers by cutting around Leafs defenceman Simon Benoit in the left circle and roofing his effort over the right shoulder of Jones and into the top corner, but like so many other times during his tenure in the Blue & Orange of Edmonton, this one was coming back.

The Maple Leafs bench promptly challenged the winger's would-be 27th goal of the season citing offside, which was quickly confirmed by the officials in a short review to take away Edmonton's avenue back into the game.

"For as many goals as he had, it's amazing how many more he could have if it wasn't for the ones that have been called back on him," Knoblauch said. "But hopefully, they'll stop getting called back."

Edmonton was able to break the Buds down and get on the board before the intermission when Leon Draisaitl delivered a deceptive backhand on goal with 4:19 left in the second period that completely fooled Jones.

The Toronto netminder should've foreseen the possibility that one of the NHL's best players on his backhand could try and deliver a sneaky shot toward the net – even after it seemed that Evan Bouchard's diagonal pass to German in the right circle would seemingly escape his grasp. But Draisaitl sauced a no-look, backhand effort towards Jones that completely caught him off guard before nestling into Toronto's net to make it 2-1 before the second intermission.

THIRD PERIOD

Once again, it would take persistence, patience and some well-timed goals from the Oilers to keep their incredible win streak running.

"I thought it was just really competitive. A good hockey game," Draisaitl said. "It's a good team over there with lots of skill. They defend really well for how much skill they have, so obviously, we showed some composure again and stuck with it. It's another huge win for us."

Edmonton completed another terrific comeback over the final 20 minutes on Tuesday that started 2:27 into the third period when Ryan McLeod delivered a pass from behind the net in front to an unmarked Derek Ryan, who calmly converted his fourth marker of the campaign to tie the game at 2-2.

McLeod, a product of Mississauga, Ont., was back in the Oilers lineup on Tuesday from a one-game absence and made his presence known by picking up the game-tying assist, but the 24-year-old would soon have a bigger role to play in extending Edmonton's win streak to 11 games after missing Saturday night's record-setting victory due to illness.

With just 3:05 on the clock in regulation, McLeod walked out from behind the Maple Leafs net unopposed and fired the unassisted game-winning goal across Jones and into the opposite corner while McDavid provided the traffic in front with Matthews.

"I was kind of looking pass the whole way," McLeod admitted. I drifted a little bit outside the dot or a little bit out, and then kind of last second I looked at that and saw a little lane and tucked it in."

McLeod picked up the winning tally while taking a shift alongside McDavid and Draisaitl as a fresh set of legs that could make the difference late in the game with some other offensive contributors needing to catch their breath.

"I thought he had a heck of a game," Knoblauch said of McLeod. "There's also the time of the game where you look at ice times and who had been out there at certain times and who was tired. There was a lot of decision-making at that moment, and I think at the time McLeod was fresh when a lot of other guys weren't, and also he was having a pretty good game so far. So that ultimately led to my decision."

Toronto would pull Jones for the extra attacker in the late stages of the game, but Bouchard sealed the two points with a full-ice flip to the empty net that barely scraped over the goal line for his 11th of the season.

The Oilers now take their 11-game win streak into Thursday's meeting with the Seattle Kraken back at Rogers Place.

PARTING WORDS

Knoblauch on comebacks helping build confidence within the group:

"Absolutely. It's not easy coming from behind, especially against a good team like the Maple Leafs. But I've said this many times – we don't get frustrated and we stick with the game plan. We don't have to alter anything drastically. We don't have to cheat on offence. We just have to work hard and make the little plays. Overall, I think we should had more goals during the game, and sometimes it doesn't work out – goaltender plays well, getting the breaks, whatever it is – but we showed it many times that if we just stick with it, we have come through lately and we just have to continue doing that."

Draisaitl on the composure of the Oilers to earn victories in close games:

"It's definitely big – especially in May and June. Those games, they're all going to be tight, but I would have to say that we've shown it before, we've done it before, we've gone far in the playoffs before, so I don't think it's only this year. But I feel like there's a level of composure maybe hitting the next level a little bit this year."

McLeod on his role and the assembling of roleplayers on the Oilers:

"Yeah, I think we're building something great. I think we're contributing in a lot of ways other than the scoresheet. I think we're shutting down a lot of guys. We're doing amazing on the penalty right now, creating a lot of energy, so the more we can do that, I think the more success we'll have in the top six and as a team. So it's been good so far."

Skinner on what he learned from managing a heavy workload last season in the Oilers crease:

"I learned last year that it's really important to take care of your body. I remember having a conversation with Jack Campbell last year about playing a lot of games in a row, and after you play a lot, it can be fatiguing on the body. So a couple of tricks up the sleeve to keep the body rested and just feeling good, and the big thing is sleep."