The high-flying Edmonton Oilers continue to cruise and are on the verge of accomplishing something unprecedented in more than three decades.
After defeating the Nashville Predators on Saturday, the Oilers extended their franchise-record winning run to 16 games.
Edmonton’s previous record was nine, set in the 2000-01 and 2022-23 seasons.
The victory ties them with the 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets for the second-longest winning streak in NHL history. The Oilers are now one win away from tying the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 17-game winning streak from 1992-93.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers’ juggernauts share many parallels. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman carry the Edmonton offense in the same way that Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Kevin Stevens carried the mail in Pittsburgh.
The teams also featured goaltenders who some think overperformed – Stuart Skinner and Tom Barrasso – but we’ll save that debate for another day.
McDavid and his teammates will face the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Vegas Golden Knights, in their first game back from the All-Star break on February 6. This will be the second meeting between the division rivals this season, with Edmonton winning 5-4 in a shootout on November 28.
Vegas sits second in the Pacific, five points ahead of Edmonton.
The Oilers’ hot run began on December 21, with a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils, bringing the team’s record to 14-15-1.
To put things into perspective, Edmonton finished sixth in the Pacific Division, 13 points behind the Los Angeles Kings in third. They are now third in the division, six points ahead of the fourth-place Kings.
While the winning streak has been amazing, some of the underlying statistics have been eye-opening. Only twice have the Oilers allowed more than two goals, and those were in their first two victories this season. They have also only played five one-goal games, the last of which was a 2-1 overtime triumph over the Montreal Canadiens on January 13.
