The Edmonton Oilers have been unstoppable over the past six weeks… literally.
The Oilers have rattled off 16 consecutive wins since Dec. 22 and have surged from the bottom of the league to among the contenders.
The only thing that has slowed them down is the all-star break, meaning we’ve had to wait 11 days for them to go for win No. 17, which would tie the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins for the longest winning streak in NHL history.
Standing in the way of that historic victory? The division-rival Vegas Golden Knights, who host the Oilers tonight on Sportsnet (10 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. MT) and eliminated Edmonton from the playoffs last spring.
Before the Oilers put the streak on the line against the defending champions, let’s break down how impressive this run has been by looking at the numbers.
2: The Oilers have allowed two or fewer goals in 14 consecutive games during the streak, a franchise record, after allowing three goals in both of the first two wins. Edmonton has also collected two shutouts during the streak and has improved its overall team goals-against average from 3.45 (27th) to 2.76 (eighth).
8: The Edmonton Oilers began the streak 20 points behind the Vancouver Canucks in the Pacific Division standings. But despite picking up 32 points in six weeks, the Oilers have only gained eight points on Vancouver in the overall standings. Since Edmonton’s win streak began on Dec. 22, Vancouver has gone 11-2-1. Every other NHL team has at least three regulation losses over that same span.
12: Zach Hyman leads the Oilers during the streak with 12 goals. That includes only one multi-goal game, a hat trick on Jan. 6 against the Senators. Panthers winger Sam Reinhart leads all players with 19 goals (in 18 games) since the Oilers streak began.
12: Stuart Skinner now holds the record for most consecutive wins by an Oilers goaltender with 12. Hockey Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr held the previous record, 10 consecutive wins, for nearly 38 years. This win streak also smashed the club’s overall team record for consecutive victories. The previous mark was nine set by the 2000-01 Oilers.
13: Of Edmonton’s 16 wins during the streak, 13 have come in regulation. That’s significant as the first tiebreak for playoff seeding is regulation wins. Before the streak started, the Oilers only had 11 RWs, which was tied with two other teams for 20th in the league. Now with 24, they are seventh in the NHL in that category and second in the Pacific Division — two ahead of the Golden Knights.
18: The Oilers have jumped 18 teams in the standings during their streak. On Dec. 22, Edmonton woke up 28th in the NHL — tied with the Blue Jackets and ahead of only the Senators, Ducks, Sharks and Blackhawks. Now the Oilers are tied for 10th in the overall league standings with the Lightning and their 59 points are one more than the Maple Leafs and two fewer than the Hurricanes, two perennial contenders.
26: Connor McDavid has points in 15 of the 16 games during the streak (only the Flames have shut him out so far) and he has nine goals and 26 points in those games. However, that isn’t close to the most points in the league during that span. Nathan MacKinnon leads the way with 36 points while Nikita Kucherov (31), Matthew Tkachuk (29) and David Pastrnak (29) also have more. Mikko Rantanen is tied with McDavid with 26 although it should be noted that McDavid has played the fewest games of this group.
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