Energized Leafs continued their hot streak with a 7-2 win

EDMONTON – Picking the Toronto Maple Leafs to win in Edmonton has become a safe bet in recent years.

William Nylander had two goals, including the 300th of his career, as the surging Maple Leafs burned the Edmonton Oilers 7-2 on Saturday.

No team has had more success at Rogers Place in Edmonton than the Maple Leafs. Since the Oilers moved into their new arena, Toronto is an impressive 12-2-1.

Jack Roslovic, Auston Matthews, Troy Stecher, Zack MacEwen and Vinni Lettieri also scored for the Maple Leafs (7-4-2), who have won four straight and are getting a complete team effort.

Matthews said the atmosphere at the Leafs right now is incredible.

“I just think the energy in the locker room day in and day out has been great,” he said. “I think the guys, the environment we’re in, it’s so much fun. It’s competitive, you know. Guys, a lot of joking around, a lot of chirping at each other. It’s just been a lot of fun, and I think the emotion, the energy in the games carries over, and it doesn’t matter who’s shooting, everybody’s excited, everybody’s happy.

“It’s just all about the team, and the team has been first the whole time, and that’s what’s most important. That’s what I feel is driving us right now.”

Matthews and Kirill Marchenko (two assists) both extended their season-opening hitting streak to five games. Matthews now needs just one point to reach 800 in his career, making him the fastest player in franchise history to reach the milestone, in addition to being the NHL’s third-fastest American skater to hit the mark.

When asked about the Oilers’ attempt to include Connor McDavid, who had two assists to snap his season starting point streak to 11 games and 33 points, and Leon Draisaitl, who recorded his third consecutive two-goal game to give him a league-leading 12 on the season, Matthews said it was “all hands on deck.”

“You recognize the challenges that you’re up against, and obviously you need everybody to rise to that challenge, and you know that sometimes it’s not pretty,” Matthews said. “But I thought we stuck with it. Penalty kill was great. Defense was great. (Goalie Anthony Stolarz) was great, and we were able to put the puck in the net when needed.”

Stolarz made 30 stops to earn the win for Toronto.

Toronto head coach Jim Hiller said everyone in his team’s locker room can hold their heads high.

“It’s not just Matthews. It’s not just Nylander. It’s not just (John) Tavares. It goes through the lineup, and that gives you a chance to win every night,” Hiller said. “And as much as I’m happy for these guys, I’m happy for our team that they can feel that there are other people there to support, and that’s a pretty good feeling right now.”

Toronto got goals from some unlikely sources as MacEwen scored his first goal since October 14, 2024, and Lettieri hasn’t found the back of the net since April 1, 2025.

Nylander hitting 300 goals was significant in several ways. He became the fourth fastest player in franchise history to the milestone as well as the fourth fastest Swedish player and passed Rick Vaive for sixth in Maple Leafs history. It was also his 45th career multi-goal game, placing him 10th on Toronto’s all-time list.

The Maple Leafs have been great on the penalty kill this season. They had killed 40 of 41 opposition power players and 30 in a row until Edmonton got one late in the game.

The Oilers (8-2-1) had a three-game winning streak halted.

“They were just better than us. They were more competitive and won more battles,” said Oilers forward Zach Hyman. “They beat us in every area today.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on October 24, 2026.

& copy 2026 The Canadian Press