Maple Leafs 1, Oilers 0

On a night where Auston Matthews would be out of the lineup, the Oilers were able to hold the Leafs to just one goal. Hey, that’s not too bad. The Leafs are a good team right now, and I like my chances if Toronto is limited to just one goal at the Air Canada Centre.

Tonight, one goal was one too many. Curtis McIlhenney stopped 41 Oiler shots en route to Toronto’s 20th victory of the season. Zach Hyman had Toronto’s only goal just 34 seconds in the first period.

Sigh.

• The Oilers put 41 shots on Curtis McIlhenney. That’s good. Like the Canadiens game, there were a ton of shots for the good guys. The first period was fairly dormant, but the Oilers responded with a boatload of shots and a few posts along the way.
• Toronto had just 23 shots, which on paper, looks fantastic. If the Leafs didn’t score in the first 34 seconds of the game (and the Oilers not be able to solve Toronto), this would almost certainly be a win for the Oilers.
• What’s the feel for Brossoit? No doubt he would’ve liked the goal back, but again, it’s one goal. Is the club confident playing in front of him? More importantly, do you see the Oilers going out and picking up another goalie for the immediate future?
• Oilers are at 28 points in 30 games (12-16-2), which puts them in low company in the Pacific Division. They’re seven points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 52 games to go. They’ve just got to hurdle Anaheim, Chicago, Vancouver, Dallas and Minnesota to get there. And Calgary. Easy.
• Oilers head to Columbus for a tilt on Tuesday, followed by a Predators matchup back home on Thursday and a trip to Minnesota for an early on on Saturday. Can the Oilers start to put some wins together?