Oilers beat skidding Leafs for team-record 11th straight win

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Ryan McLeod had a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers rallied past the slumping Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Tuesday night for their franchise-record 11th consecutive victory.

Leon Draisaitl, Derek Ryan and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers (24-15-1), who are 19-3-0 in their last 22 games. Stuart Skinner made 25 saves to improve to 15-2 in his past 17 starts.

"It was a massive two points. We stuck with it through the whole 60 minutes again, down going into the third," Skinner said.

"It did feel like a playoff game. It was so loud in there. It was a little bit of a reminder of how the playoffs were last year. It makes it a lot of fun. I’m glad we were able to beat Toronto and beat the Toronto fans out there."

Edmonton, down 2-0 late in the second period, has trailed in seven of its 11 wins during the streak.

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

Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs (21-13-8), who have lost four straight.

"Once again, you don't find a way to win a game when you've got a lead and that burns here, especially on a night like this, where I thought our guys played a really good hockey game," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said.

"They played very hard. Ultimately, when you're not scoring like we aren't scoring here in this little stretch, you've got to find ways to win 2-1. And that's tough to do, especially in this building against that team."

Toronto got off to a terrific start, scoring on its first shift just 27 seconds in. Mitch Marner sent a pass to Matthews, who rifled in his NHL-leading 34th goal of the season before Skinner could get across the crease.

The Maple Leafs almost added to that lead just over a minute later as Tyler Bertuzzi redirected a shot that rang off the post.

Toronto had another great chance early in the second as William Nylander was sent in on a breakaway, but Skinner got a piece of his shot with his glove and it caromed off the crossbar.

With nine minutes to play in the period, Rielly picked up a puck that was pinballing in front of the net and sent it through Skinner’s legs for his seventh goal.

Edmonton appeared to get that goal back shortly afterward on a tremendous individual effort by Zach Hyman, but a quick video review determined the Oilers were offside on the play.

They finally got on the board with 4:19 remaining in the second as Draisaitl sent a bad-angle backhand on net that somehow found its way past Martin Jones for his 21st goal.

Edmonton tied it 2:27 into the third as Ryan took a feed from behind the net by McLeod and fired a one-timer for his fourth goal this season and 200th career point.

The Oilers then jumped ahead with 3:05 left when McLeod circled out from behind the net and deposited his eighth of the season past Jones. Connor McDavid picked up an assist to extend his point streak to 11 games.

McLeod was back in the lineup after returning from an illness.

Bouchard put the game away with a long empty-netter that barely inched its way over the goal line.

Jones finished with 28 saves.

"Disappointing, obviously, when you lose giving up a lead, but it was a really good game," Jones said. "We did a lot of good things. The difference is executing on one play at the end of the game. They did and we didn’t."

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: Visit the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.