Edmonton has to get through Carolina at Rogers Place first, so the Oilers who take the ice at 5:00 PM MT could look a bit different from the team on paper today. Fatigue, a lineup change or a goalie decision could all come out of that game. Toronto has its own scheduling problem: a Thursday night home game against the Rangers, then a flight across the country to play in Edmonton 2 days later.
The matchup to watch is Toronto's lineup against Edmonton's top line. The Leafs are getting goals from new places. Marchenko became the second player in 20 years, after Auston Matthews, to record a point in each of his first 4 road games as a Leaf. McKenna has 6 points through his first 10 NHL games, including a power-play goal against San Jose. Without Tanev on the back end, though, the Rangers game showed how quickly a light defensive group can leak. Adam Fox had 4 assists that night, and McDavid is a much bigger problem than Fox.
Edmonton's injury list is long but mostly settled. Frederik Andersen (knee) isn't expected back until maybe December. Matt Savoie and Alec Regula are on long-term IR, and Jason Dickinson and Mattias Janmark are also out, which thins the Oilers' depth at center. Toronto's question is whether Tavares, Tanev or Rifai make it back for the western trip. If they don't, the Leafs have to win a road game in Edmonton relying on the depth that just barely held off the Rangers.