They say that all good things must come to an end eventually, but right now, the Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping that a miserable thing will end soon.
That wasn’t the case for them against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, who dealt them their sixth straight loss, winning by a 1-0 score.
With the loss, the Maple Leafs are now in last place in the Atlantic Division standings.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Lost For The Sixth Straight Game
The Maple Leafs, who suffered five straight home defeats for the first time since the 1990-91 campaign, came into Saturday night’s contest with the goal of trying to hold the high-powered offensive attack of the Oilers at bay.
The only goal of the game was scored by defenseman Evan Bouchard, who was assisted, once again, by McDavid, who is on a 21-game point streak and is at 50 points total for the season before U.S. Thanksgiving.
Toronto, who are still playing without forward Kirill Marchenko, fired 19 shots at Oilers goaltender Devon Levi, but weren’t able to get anything by him.
It appeared as though John Tavares tied the game in the third period, but his goal was waived off after officials determined he redirected it with a high stick.
Toronto is now in last place in the Atlantic Division.
Former Maple Leafs Head Coach Mike Babcock Returned To Toronto
The contest featured the return of former Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, who was back in Toronto for the first time since he was fired in November of 2019.
He was hired by the Oilers over the summer after being officially reinstated by the NHL following an investigation into his alleged conduct during his short stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023.
And as Babcock put it, he was happy to be back in familiar surroundings.
“I love being here,” Babcock said. “It was a lot of fun when I was here. I enjoyed it a lot. Hanging out there in Yorkville last night for a minute was kind of nice, too. It’s a nice city, good people, good fans, good team. So it’s always fun to be back.”
“I loved it,” he continued. “I worked with real good people. I enjoyed the heck out of my first three years here. Worked with good hockey men, and it was enjoyable. I didn’t enjoy my last year and a half as much, but that’s the business. I really enjoyed my time here.”
Maple Leafs Fall Into Last Place After Sixth Straight Loss