TORONTO, ON - The Oilers will be looking for repetition on two fronts tonight as they continue their Eastern Conference road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
First off, they'll look to replicate the dominant effort they put forth last night in Montreal as they defeated the Canadiens 6-2, led by a two-goal performance from Jujhar Khaira.
And second, the Oilers will draw upon the first leg of their season series with the Maple Leafs, contested at Rogers Place on Thursday, Nov. 30, which resulted in a 6-4 decision for Toronto.
That unfavourable result was a bit misleading based on how the Oilers played that night. They spotted Toronto a 3-1 lead after the first period only to coming roaring back in the second and third, tying the game twice before coming up just short.
Edmonton outshot Toronto 45-37 and will look to repeat how they played in the final 40 minutes of that game as they get ready for tonight's rematch.
"At the beginning of the game we were turning the puck over and not playing our game," said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who's tied with Connor McDavid for the team goal-scoring lead with 11. "We found it in the second and third and we've got to take that attitude and that same work ethic from that game into tonight."
"That may have been our best 40 minutes of the year," added his namesake and teammate Ryan Strome. "If we can just build off that and remember that feeling… We've got to create our own luck off the start. We can't wait for something to happen, good or bad. We've got to dictate the play. We know we're capable, it's just that consistency. Hopefully we can find that early tonight"
The Oilers got offence from basically their entire lineup in Montreal last night, with 13 players recording at least a point and four of them posting two-point games.
Michael Cammalleri and Yohann Auvitu each scored their first goal as members of the Oilers, while Brandon Davidson was +1 with two shots and five blocks against the team he was claimed from via waivers one week ago.
Edmonton's biggest challenge this season has been consistency, as they've only been able to win back-to-back games twice thus far. The Oilers have, however, won four of their last six contests, so perhaps that consistency is developing.
"Last night was a great example of how good this team can be," said Strome, one of the four players with a multi-point showing, assisting on both of Khaira's goals. "We need to string them together, we know that. We've been struggling period to period and game to game, so this is another test tonight."
"We've seen flashes of it, but last night was a full 60 for us," added Nugent-Hopkins. "It really started from the get-go. We were forechecking early, making them turn the puck over and that's how we started to get our chances. We found success that way and we kept rolling with it."
Laurent Brossoit back-stopped the Oilers to their win in Montreal with a 22-save performance and is expected to get the nod between the pipes again vs. Toronto. He made 30 saves in a losing cause in the first meeting with the Maple Leafs.
-- Ryan Frankson EdmontonOilers.com
