Edmonton is one of the most offensively dominant teams in the league this season.
Yeah but they only scored a single goal in three games against Toronto.
The Oilers are 7-3-0 in their last 10 and prior to the cancelled Montreal games won 3 in a row.
Yeah but they lost 3 in a row to Toronto and looked like booty the whole time.
Edmonton has the ability to come out on top of the North Division.
Yeah but they still can't beat Toronto.

The Yeah But crowd can be annoying but they bring up a reasonable point. Like the Oilers have against the Ottawa Senators or the Ottawa Senators have had against the Flames, Toronto has had Edmonton's number this season. The roughest part for Edmonton was Toronto wasn't icing their best lineup as Matthews was out for most of that series, as was Andersen.

Edmonton has now had a week off between games, due to the Montreal games being cancelled due to a COVID case. That time off can be seen in a positive and a negative light. The negative is the fact that Edmonton was rolling and playing some great hockey prior to the break. That being said I think there are more positives.

Edmonton had just played 11 games in 20 days. This schedule is condensed and it doesn't allow the players many breaks to recuperate or for the coaches to spend time practicing some of the finer details they want to work on. Over this week Edmonton has had both. Yamamoto is expected to play tonight too after having the time to heal up.

OILERS LINE COMBINATIONS

Draisaitl-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Kahun-RNH-Yamamoto
Shore-Khaira-Chiasson
Archibald-Haas-Kassian

Nurse-Barrie
Lagesson-Larsson
Russell-Bear

Smith

LEAFS LINE COMBINATIONS

Thornton-Matthews-Marner
Nylander-Tavares-Simmonds
Mikheyev-Engvall-Hyman
Galchenyuk-Kerfoot-Spezza

Rielly-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Dermott-Bogosian

Campbell

4 GAME THOUGHTS

1.) A Good Memory - Edmonton has had a week now to practice and focus on the Maple Leafs and remember how they got embarrassed early this month. The Oilers need to stick to their gameplan and not let frustration creep into their game early, even if they find themselves down by a goal.

2.) The New Starter? - Jack Campbell has been a story for the Leafs this year. While Andersen has posted a 0.897SV% in 23 games this season, Campbell has a ridiculous 0.958SV% and a 1.18GAA in 5 games. Campbell is getting the starts while Freddy is down but even after he returns it's probably in the Leafs best interest to keep playing him. The Oil need to find a way to challenge him.

3.) Rebound - Since losing three straight to Toronto, the Oilers have gone 7-2, meanwhile the Leafs have gone 3-5. Edmonton has been the better team over the past few weeks but they need to beat Toronto tonight to prove it.

4.) Battle For The Rocket - McDavid being atop the point race in the NHL is nothing new for Oilers fans but this year fans are seeing Connor make a run for the Rocket Richard Trophy and is currently tied for first with 21 goals with Auston Matthews. McDavid will talk like it isn't a big deal but you can bet he wants to add that to his trophy collection, as will Matthews. Look for both players to come in with a shoot first mentality.

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