Leafs benefit from “own goal” to defeat Oilers, 6-4

Sloppy hockey was on display in Edmonton Thursday night.

Poor puck handling, blind passes and poor penalty killing cost the Oilers in a 6-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs,

Throw in an own goal credited to the Leafs’ Patrick Marleau in the third period and you have a mess of a game.

“It was a bounce, I turned to try and battle it out and obviously you know what happened,” Russell said. “I thought we came back and played well, but I’m pretty frustrated with the way it ended. I don’t know what you want me to say. You know what happened at the end.”

Toronto had built a 2-0 lead and then watched, almost literally, as the Oilers rallied and the teams were in the third period tied at 4-4.

Auston Matthews, Dominic Moore, Matt Martin and William Nylander had goals for the Leafs.

Nazem Kadri potted an empty-netter for the final score.

The Oilers’ Kris Russell was guilty of the shot on his own net.

“I couldn’t imagine, I’m feeling for [Russell] right now,” Kadri said. “Like I said, they did a great job, they earned themselves at least a point in that one and came up a little bit short. Tough bounce, but that’s the way it’s going for us right now. We continued that.”

Frederik Andersen made 41 saves for the win as the Leafs improved to 17-9-1.

“I thought we played a [heck] of a game once we got our wits about us,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said. “We were turning pucks over, and it took a little regrouping between the first and the second. We didn’t give up much after that, but we gave up a lot early, and that’s something we have to shore up.

Mark Letestu, Zack Kassian, Connor McDavid and Russell had the Oilers’ goals.

“It was obviously an unfortunate way to end it,” McDavid said. “I think everyone would have wanted overtime, it would have been entertaining. It’s just the way it goes. I think we can feel good about how we battled, and no one can say we didn’t put our best foot forward.”

[WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Oilers highlights]

Laurent Brossoit made 30 saves in the loss and looked lost at times but was otherwise abandoned by his defense or left scrambling as the Leafs took advantage of giveaways at the blue line or deep in the zone.

“He’s a guy (Russell) you would go to war for. He does everything for us. He throws himself in shooting lanes where most guys would be diving to get out of the way. He puts himself in harm’s way. He battles so hard each and every night. He was great tonight, solid,” McDavid  said.

The Oilers dropped to 10-14-2 and continue to look disorganized for vast stretches of their games.