Edmonton fell behind to an Auston Matthews tally just 27 seconds in and trailed 2-0 midway through the second period after Morgan Rielly doubled the Maple Leafs’ lead, but the Blue & Orange stayed patient with some strong goaltending and team defending over the next 59:33 before their depth provided some clutch goals in the final period to complete the comeback and keep the streak going.
Derek Ryan equalized early in the final frame to reach the 200-point mark in his career before Ryan McLeod notched the late go-ahead goal to make it 3-2 with 3:05 left in regulation. Along with the 37-year-old, defenceman Mattias Ekholm hit a personal milestone with his 300th point after finishing the night with two assists.
Evan Bouchard added an empty-netter to to along with an assist to help secure the Oilers their third straight win after having trailed in the third period, and their seventh comeback win during their 11-game unbeaten run.
“It was a pretty raucous environment, for sure,” Ryan said. “It was loud with the Leafs fans and the Oil fans. But honestly, when I scored the goal, I was just thinking about tying the game, how that was huge, and obviously, I was aware that it was my 200th point, too. So that was pretty monumental for me, personally and selfishly.
“When you’re in the game, you know what it’s like when you’re competing. You’re just in the game, you’re focused on that, and then later in the night after the game’s over, you can reflect on it and just enjoy it a little more.
The Oilers will face the Kraken, who’ve won 11 of their last 15 games after assembling a nine-game win streak of their own from Dec. 20 to Jan. 13 that’s tied with the Florida Panthers this season for the longest win streak in the NHL next to Edmonton’s current double-digit heater of 11 games.
Seattle has leaned on goaltender Joey Daccord in the crease with Philipp Grubauer week-to-week with a lower-body injury, and the 27-year-old has been a major part of their recent success with a 10-1-2 record, 1.60 goals-against average, .949 save percentage and two shutouts dating back to Dec. 12.
The Kraken have lost two straight after dropping back-to-back matches to the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers earlier this week as they get set to wrap up a six-game road trip against the Oilers on Thursday.