The Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Rogers Place, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. ET on October 24. Toronto arrives at 6, 4 and 2 on a three game winning streak, while Edmonton sits at 8, 1 and 1 and has won eight of its last nine games.
This is a preview, not a result. The game has not been played yet. It pairs the two hottest storylines in Canadian hockey right now: a Leafs team that just won a 5 to 4 thriller at home, and an Oilers team led by Connor McDavid, who has 31 points in his first 10 games of the season.
Toronto Arrives on a Three Game Run
The Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers 5 to 4 on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena, and they did it in the final minute. Troy Stecher scored the winner with 28 seconds left in regulation on a delayed penalty, taking a pass from Morgan Rielly and shooting over Dylan Garand’s glove from the top of the right face off circle. It was Stecher’s first goal of the season and the third game winning goal of his career.
Toronto’s fourth line drove that win. Brandon Duhaime had a goal and two assists for the first three point game of his career. Teddy Blueger scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf and added an assist, and Zack MacEwen had two assists. Easton Cowan opened the scoring at 1 minute 36 seconds of the first period on a breakaway, and Kirill Marchenko added a power play goal, his fourth of the season.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves in the win. It was the 459th victory of his career, tying Henrik Lundqvist for sixth on the NHL all time wins list. Auston Matthews recorded a goal and an assist in the Columbus game earlier in the week and sits two points shy of 800 for his career, a mark he could reach on Saturday night in Edmonton.
Love when the Toronto fans show up in our building, and it is loud, and you get both sides going. It makes for a fun atmosphere and should be a fun game.
That was McDavid on Friday, looking ahead to the Saturday crowd at Rogers Place. Visiting Leafs fans traditionally travel in numbers to Edmonton, and the building usually sounds like a split house for this fixture.
McDavid Is Producing at a Historic Pace
Edmonton’s last game was also on Thursday, a 6 to 5 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Rogers Place. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had two goals and three assists. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a goal in regulation in his season debut and added the only goal of the shootout.
McDavid forced overtime with 1 minute 28 seconds left and the goalie pulled, his shot deflecting in off Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s skate for his eighth goal of the season. With that five point night, McDavid reached 31 points in 10 games and joined Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history to reach 30 points in 10 games or fewer. He also carries a 10 game season opening assist streak.
Draisaitl has 21 points through 10 games, with a team leading 10 goals. Evan Bouchard has 19 points. Edmonton has scored 4.60 goals per game this season and its power play is running at 35.3 percent. Toronto’s penalty kill and its banged up defence will be tested shift after shift, especially with John Tavares week to week with an upper body injury for the Leafs.
Babcock Faces His Former Team
Saturday is also the first time Mike Babcock faces Toronto as Edmonton head coach. Babcock’s Oilers lead the Pacific Division at 8, 1 and 1, and the team has responded to a direct style that McDavid described on Friday as calling it how it is. Babcock said his focus stays on daily improvement rather than outside expectations.
Edmonton made a goaltending change on Friday. Devon Levi, who made 22 saves in the Carolina win, was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, and Matt Tomkins was called up from Bakersfield on an emergency basis. Tristan Jarry is set to start against Toronto. Jarry is 2, 0 and 1 this season with a 2.97 goals against average.
For Toronto, Bobrovsky holds a 3, 3 and 2 record, while Anthony Stolarz is 3, 1 and 0. Whoever starts faces the hardest assignment in hockey right now, McDavid and Draisaitl on home ice with last change in Edmonton’s favour.
What to Watch on Saturday Night
The matchup of first overall picks headlines the night. Edmonton brings McDavid from the 2015 draft and Nugent-Hopkins from 2011. Toronto counters with Matthews from 2016 and Gavin McKenna from 2026. Few regular season games in October carry this much star power on both benches.
The pace is the other thing to watch. Edmonton and its opponents have combined for more than 6.5 goals in six of the Oilers first 10 games, and Toronto has played seven games this season with more than 6.5 total goals. Both teams just won 5 to 4 and 6 to 5 games on the same night. A quiet, low event Saturday would be the surprise.
A Toronto win would stretch the streak to four and give the Leafs a signature road result before games in Calgary and Seattle next week. An Edmonton win would push the Oilers to nine wins in their last ten and keep McDavid’s historic start at the centre of the league conversation. Either way, Saturday night at Rogers Place is the biggest game on the Canadian schedule this weekend, and it starts at 7 p.m. ET.
