No matter what the standings say and no matter what their trajectories are, the Edmonton Oilers against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night is always a monster game.
The East Coast-West Coast rivalry and a cast of superstars on either side, coupled with the national hype machines, turn Edmonton against Toronto into a night that can stop traffic in Canada.
Even when it’s not warranted.
And this time, it’s all kinds of warranted. With the Leafs battling Florida for first place in the Atlantic Division and the Oilers battling Vegas for first place in the Pacific Division, it’s two teams in the middle of their Stanley Cup windows sizing each other up in a mid-season playoff atmosphere.
“Guys are excited. We get the five o’clock start time, which is always nice,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid with a grin. “They come into our building, and we have to change our schedule around, but it is what it is. It’s exciting, always fun to play the Leafs. They’re big games. They have some special players over there.”
This is a measuring stick night where even the fans get into it.
“There’s a lot of Leafs fans in the building, too much media in the room, just a combination of a lot of things,” said defenceman Darnell Nurse with a laugh. “These games are always fun, especially the last few years when both teams have been fairly good on each side of the league. I expect a hard-fought game.”
That’s what everyone expects from a couple of teams that have strayed lately from what they want to be.
The Leafs were outscored 10-3 in losing three games in a row while the Oilers lost their last game to Detroit and didn’t look especially good in the two games before that. Each side needs to pick it up a level to get back on track at the expense of the other, so facing off on Hockey Night in Canada is perfect timing.
‘A good test for both sides’
Motivation and intensity won’t be a problem.
“I don’t think they love their game right now either,” McDavid said of the Leafs. “They’re looking to score some goals, and we’re looking to stop giving up chances. It will be a good test for both sides.”
The last time they met in mid-November certainly lived up to the billing. The Leafs scored two goals 59 seconds apart late in the third period to take a 3-2 lead, Leon Draisaitl tied it with 1:29 to play in regulation and Mitch Marner won it for Toronto 40 seconds into overtime.
And in one of the more violent incidents we’ve seen in a while, Ryan Reaves received a match penalty for a headshot on Nurse that knocked the Oilers defenceman out of the lineup for three games.
“You never like seeing something like that,” said McDavid. “I think everybody agrees it wasn’t the greatest hit in the world, but at the same time, there is a game to be played, points to be had and a big win for a team out there, so we’re obviously focused on that too.”
Nurse said he has more important things to do Saturday than seek retribution against a six-minute per night player.
“I’ve touched on it enough,” he said of the incident that left him bloodied and concussed. “Our team is trying to chase down first in our division. We have so much more to play for. We have a really good team coming in here with a lot of skill and firepower.
“One of my jobs is to go out there and play against some of the best, and I don’t want to take myself out of that situation and hurt our team.”
The teams and the timing make this a seminal Saturday night — can’t miss television — but by Sunday morning, it won’t mean much of anything.
The Oilers’ focus will shift to back-to-back road games and finishing strong before the two-week break in the schedule for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
There are months of hockey to be played and handfuls of trades to be made before the playoffs begin, and the Leafs and Oilers won’t be seeing each other in those playoffs unless the planets align and the hockey gods bless us with the most epic Stanley Cup Final of all time.
So yes, it’s going to be overhyped and it really is just one game that will be long forgotten when the playoff bullets start flying in April. But it will be one night of spectacular theatre, no matter what happens — a fun night of hockey in a season that isn’t always full of them.
It’s also a chance for the players on either side to dance on the big stage. It’s not often that you get a Game 7 atmosphere in early February, so it will be interesting to see how some of the new Oilers respond.
“Playing good teams usually brings out the best in yourself because you know it’s going to be a challenge,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “You know that you can’t win playing below average. Some nights you can kind of get away with that, but when you’re playing a good team, you can’t.
“And we’re playing a good team. A team we’re excited to play against. I think it is good.”
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