Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists as the Edmonton Oilers downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 at Scotiabank Arena Monday night.
With the victory, the Oilers have won back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 23 and 24.
The Oilers outshot the Maple Leafs 17-11 in the first period and earned the only goal on a point shot by defenceman Oscar Klefbom.
His wrister beat a screened Frederik Andersen for his fifth goal of the season. Edmonton goaltender Mike Smith, making his third straight start in goal for the Oilers, held his ground, including a point-blank save on Leafs forward John Tavares in the final minute of the first.
The Oilers scored goals 1:11 apart early in the second.
Edmonton defenceman Darnell Nurse bagged his fourth goal of the year, then Kailer Yamamoto one-timed a pass from Caleb Jones past Andersen. That was the end of the night for Andersen, who was replaced by Michael Hutchinson after allowing three goals on 19 shots.
The Leafs came right back on a goal by Jason Spezza, as the teams combined for three goals in 1:50.
The Oilers were down two men for 1:23 midway through the second period but came through on the penalty kill.
Edmonton forward Alex Chiasson fired home a wrister with 6:19 to go in the second to put the Oilers up 4-1.
Frederik Gauthier and Pierre Engvall came back for the Leafs with goals in the final four minutes of the session.
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl snapped in a power-play goal to make it 5-3 Oilers 6:26 into the third.
McDavid added a beauty with 8:34 to go.
With the teams playing four-on-four, the Oilers’ captain went in on Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly. After slowing down and moving to his right, McDavid zipped back to the left, stormed around Rielly and beat Hutchinson up high.
After the game, McDavid said it feels good to come away from his hometown rink with two points.
“It’s a building I’ve played a couple times in — World Juniors, World Cup, a couple times in the NHL — so it’s a building I’m familiar with,” he said.
“I’ve had success in other tournaments and stuff, but never really in the NHL, so it’s definitely fun.”
Toronto’s Auston Matthews fired home a power-play goal with 6:42 left. The Oilers took a too-many-men penalty with 1:35 left but were able to kill it off.
Draisaitl said Toronto kept coming right up until the final buzzer.
“It’s no secret that the Leafs are a very skilled team, and very dangerous,” he said.
“I think you could see that at the end there, if you give them a little too much time and space, they’ll take advantage of it.”
Smith made 32 saves for the win. Chiasson and Draisaitl each had a goal and an assist.
The Leafs had won seven straight against Edmonton.
Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said the win felt a little sweeter than others.
“We have a lot of guys in here from around this area, and when they come back, they always want to play well,” he said. “It’s great to see them play well and great to see us get a win here.
“You see guys in the dressing room happy after and it’s a good feeling for a team to come here and win.”
The Oilers (23-17-5) will visit Montreal on Thursday.
Listen below: Post-game coverage from 630 CHED.
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