Edmonton @ Toronto preview
Scotiabank Arena
Last Meeting ( Mar 23, 2024 ) Edmonton 3, Toronto 6
Edmonton's Connor McDavid gets to work on his next 1,000 points Saturday night when the Oilers visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
McDavid reached 1,001 career points when he had a goal and an assist as the Oilers defeated the visiting Nashville Predators 3-2 in overtime on Thursday night.
The Oilers captain became the 99th player and the fourth fastest to reach 1,000 points with a second-period goal. He also assisted on Darnell Nurse's overtime winner. McDavid (341 goals, 660 assists) has played 659 games, and at 27 is the fourth-youngest player to hit 1,000 points.
Edmonton has won three in a row and five of seven as it starts a three-game Eastern swing.
The Maple Leafs defeated the host Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday.
Toronto will be without Auston Matthews (upper-body injury) for the sixth straight game on Saturday.
McDavid was glad to reach his milestone at home.
"Just seeing the way the players reacted means the world to me. It means everything to me," McDavid said. "To hear the fans, that stuff means more to me than any of the numbers. It was a really special moment.
"These milestones are a great time to reflect and look back. It's been a good 10 years and hopefully 10 more good ones. Some of these things have kind of hit me a little more emotionally than I would have thought."
The previous player to reach 1,000 points was Toronto's John Tavares on Dec. 11, 2023, in his 1,109th game. Tavares scored Toronto's overtime winner on Wednesday.
Leon Draisaitl, who assisted on McDavid's goal and has factored into 445 of his points, said he would not be surprised if his teammate reached 2,000 points.
"If not him, who else? That is the only question I have," Draisaitl said. "I never bet against Connor McDavid. I have learned that over the last 10 years. It wouldn't surprise me."
The Maple Leafs have won four of their past five games, all without Matthews, who led the league with 69 goals last season.
"No setbacks," Toronto coach Craig Berube said on Friday. "We're doing what we can. We have two games in a long stretch here, so we're just letting him recover."
Toronto does not play again until Wednesday against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.
Max Domi (maintenance) did not take part in practice.
Toronto scored twice in the final 4:09 of regulation to force overtime at Washington. It was Toronto's first road win when trailing by more than one goal with fewer than five minutes remaining since Dec. 6, 2010 -- also against the Capitals.
"They just kept working," Berube said. "I mean, we got behind, I get that, but I thought in the second period from the 10-minute mark on, we started to really press and do some real good things in the offensive zone and get some opportunities, and it carried over in the third."
"We talked about staying with it," Tavares said. "Their lead increased and a couple didn't count, but we found a way. Good character win and bounce-back."
Toronto had two goals called back and Washington had one disallowed.
Toronto defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson played in his 1,000th NHL game on Wednesday. Another Toronto defenseman, Jani Hakanpaa (lower-body injury) made his season debut after missing the first 17 games.
--Field Level Media