The Edmonton Oilers came up short again Wednesday night, falling 4-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Oilers went 0-3-2 on their five-game road trip.
For the 21st time in the last 25 games, the Oilers allowed the first goal. Toronto forward William Nylander’s shot went wide, but the puck came off the back boards, hit Edmonton goaltender Mike Smith’s right skate and went in to make it 1-0 Leafs 4:25 in. John Tavares got credit for the goal.
The Oilers replied with two goals in 1:14. Brendan Perlini converted a feed from Colton Sceviour, then Kailer Yamamoto set up Leon Draisaitl for his 26th of the season. In the final minute of the first, Leafs defenceman T.J. Brodie’s point shot banked in off Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse to make it 2-2.
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The second period was scoreless. Smith stopped Nylander on a breakaway with just over one minute to go. .
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With 8:35 left in the third, Ilya Mikheyev ripped a power-play wrister past Smith’s glove to put the Leafs up 3-2. Alexander Kerfoot scored an empty netter in the final minute
The Oilers were without Connor McDavid, Derek Ryan and Tyson Barrie, who all went into COVID-19 protocol Wednesday morning.
The NHL announced during the game that the Oilers’ home game against Chicago on Jan. 18 has been postponed.
The Oilers (18-14-2) will host Ottawa on Monday.