Matthews leads Maple Leafs over Oilers 5-1 | The Canadian News

EDMONTON – Auston Matthews scored a pair of goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs to win their second straight game, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Wayne Simmonds, TJ Brodie and Morgan Rielly also scored for the Maple Leafs (20-8-2), who improved to 8-4-1 on the road.

Colton Sceviour answered for the Oilers (16-11-0) who have lost six games in a row, including all five of their current stay at home.

Edmonton again allowed the first goal of the game.

John Tavares pulled the puck out of a fight in front of the net and passed it to Matthews, who sent a shot that passed Oilers goalkeeper Mikko Koskinen with 35 seconds to go in the first frame. The power play goal extended Matthews’ scoring streak to 10 games.

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The Oilers have allowed the first goal of the game in 15 of their last 20 games, winning all five games in which they scored first.

Toronto increased their lead in the nine minutes of the second period as Simmonds struggled hard up front to sweep home a rebound.

Brodie made it 3-0 with five minutes remaining in the middle of the frame when his shot deflected from a defender into the net, his first goal of the season.

Edmonton finally got on the board with a goal on his 32nd shot in the fifth minute of the third when a poor rebound ended up off Sceviour’s stick and behind Toronto starter Jack Campbell for the first time of the year.

However, just over a minute later, the Leafs responded when Rielly beat Koskinen on the blockers’ side.

Toronto reinforced its lead with three minutes to go when Matthews fired a shot from the slot for his 20th of the season.

Both teams return to action Thursday as the Oilers wrap up their six-game home run against the Columbus Blue Jackets, while the Maple Leafs play the second game of a four-game road trip in Calgary against the Flames.

Notes: The Oilers got back veteran defender Duncan Keith after missing the last eight games, but lost former Leafs forward Zach Hyman with an undisclosed injury. Also missing from the Oilers lineup were Mike Smith (lower body), Slater Koekkoek (lower body), Kris Russell (upper body) and Ryan McLeod, who followed the COVID protocol earlier that day. Also missing due to pandemic precautions, Oilers head coach Dave Tippett… Out with Toronto’s injuries were Mitchell Marner (shoulder) and Rasmus Sandin (knee). Forward Ilya Mikheyev returned to Toronto’s lineup, playing his first game of the season after a broken thumb, and defender Travis Dermott, after missing four games with a shoulder injury.

This Canadian Press report was first published on December 14, 2021.