As the Edmonton Oilers prepare to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight in their home stadium of Rogers Place, all eyes are on if they can rebound. It was a disappointing sight to see when they lost their recent game against the Winnipeg Jets in which they had everything needed to leave that game victorious.
The Oilers had the lead and then blew it when it mattered most in the 3rd period. In the grand scheme of things, the Oilers must find ways to focus and finish these kinds of games if they’re ever to become contenders this season.
Luckily, the season is still very young as there is a ton of hockey left to be played and more than enough time to fix some of the issues the Oilers have. Besides trying to score first and maintain leads, it looks like the Oilers need to tweak things up when it comes to their overall defense.
The Edmonton Oilers must bring the heat against the Maple Leafs
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Playing as they did against the Jets will not work against the Maple Leafs who are the team to beat as they sit on top of the North Division at 6-2-0. Hopefully, this won’t be another snoozefest of a game as it was when the first time these two teams met about a week ago to a nationally televised audience.
Yes, the Oilers beat the Maple Leafs 3-1 that evening but then got dropped 4-2 in their second matchup of the series. At any rate, all eyes will be on Connor McDavid and Mitch Marner to see if we’ll get a nice, offensive showdown from both forwards.
Hopefully, it’s McDavid that brings the heat first as the Maple Leafs sure have an interesting stat on their side when it comes to Marner scoring first. Anytime he and Auston Matthews score goals in a game, the Maple Leafs have a 26-2-2 record.
On the flip side, if McDavid and Leon Draisaitl score goals first, the Oilers have a 30-13-4 record. It sure does sound like tonight’s game has the potential to be something special but it all depends on which dynamic duo scores first.
Here’s to the Oilers tweaking what they need to tweak with their lineups and what they spent time in practice on. It won’t be easy but the common theme this season has been taking things one game at a time. Hopefully, it’s the Oilers that pull the upset tonight after making the necessary adjustments.