The final second had dripped off the scoreboard hanging high overhead at Scotiabank Saddledome and the horn howled signifying the conclusion of the latest iteration of the Battle of Alberta.
And inside the visiting dressing room, the Edmonton Oilers were basking in the history they had made over two-and-a-half-hours spanning three periods.
The Oilers had defeated their forever rivals, the Calgary Flames, 4-2, always a delicious outcome to revel in. But, on this Saturday night, it wasn’t just dousing the Flames that caused the Oilers to celebrate.
No, it was also that they continued their history-making streaks. Streaks. Plural.
Let’s start with the most significant piece of information. And that is Edmonton became the first Canadian team in NHL history to win 13 straight games. The previous record had been held by the 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup.
“Anytime you can be the only team to do anything that’s positive,” Oilers center Connor McDavid told reporters afterward, according to NHL.com, “that’s always exciting. Good for our group.”
Regardless of if-and-when the streak ends, the 2023-24 Oilers are members of an exclusive club, as they are one of 15 teams in league history to win at least 13 straight games. The NHL single-season record for consecutive wins is 17, held by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins, whose bid for a three-peat was derailed by the New York Islanders in a seven-game second round Stanley Cup Playoff series.
“When we did the (then-franchise record) 10-game (winning) streak we eclipsed the Oilers, the (1980s) teams,” Oilers left winger Zach Hyman said afterward, according to NHL.com. “Now it’s the old Montreal team. When you’re in the moment you just go out there and play, but I’m sure it’ll be something cool to look back on (in the future) now (that) we hold this streak for a Canadian team. We want to keep winning so we’ll see where it goes.”
Especially when it was not all that long ago that the Oilers were a punchline to a pointed, mean-spirited joke.
It was exactly two months and nine days ago–70 days, if we’re being pedantic–that general manager Ken Holland made the decision to fire then-head coach Jay Woodcroft. The Oilers, who came into the season with internal and external expectations to compete for and win the Stanley Cup, had lost 10-of-their-first-13-games and the only team worse than them were the San Jose Sharks.
Woodcroft and his assistant coach, Dave Manson, were replaced by Kris Knoblauch and Hall-of-Famer Paul Coffey. Which prompted questions whether or not McDavid had given his blessing to the decision since he played for Knoblauch with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League.
“We didn’t consult with the players on this decision,” Oilers Chief Executive Officer Jeff Jackson said during the introductory press conference, as OSDBSports.com noted in our piece analyzing the coaching change on Nov. 14 (https://www.osdbsports.com/editorials/oil-spill). “Never spoke with Connor, Leon (Draisaitl), (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) or (Darnell Nurse) or any of the other (members of the) leadership group. These guys are here to play hockey. They know that’s what they want to do. They don’t like being involved in these types of decisions. That’s my experience. So the fact that Kris was Connor’s coach in (OHL) Erie in 2014 and 2015, it only has something to do with this because I think Kris Knoblauch is a very good coach. Connor didn’t have anything to do with this decision and neither did the other leadership group (members).”
In the 29 games these Oilers have played under Knoblauch, they have proved Jackson’s theory of the case. Edmonton has won 23-of-29 games and climbed from seventh place in the Pacific Division to third.
Which is impressive enough. But it is how the Oilers are winning that is causing observers to wonder if the franchise’s sixth Cup will be won this spring.
Along with the win over Calgary being Edmonton’s 13th straight, it was also the franchise’s ninth straight on the road, a new team record. And, individually, goaltender Stuart Skinner earned his 10th straight win to tie Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr for the longest in franchise history.
“We like playing on the road,” McDavid said, according to the NHL.com game story. “Playing on the road is fun. Hostile environments. Feels like you’re playing against everybody in the rink and that’s fun for us.”
Moreover, one of the league’s most explosive teams may very well be developing a defensive identity. At the time of Woodcroft’s firing, the Oilers were among the NHL’s best analytic teams. And that hasn’t changed, but what has is that Edmonton ranks seventh in the league in goals against with 122.
“We’re on quite a winning streak which is nice,” the Toronto Star quoted Knoblauch as having said. “We haven’t relied on just one thing. Our goaltending’s been great, but we haven’t relied on that every single night stealing us games. We haven’t been scoring a ton of goals each night. Connor has been good, but he hasn’t been scoring at the pace he’s scored at other stretches during his career. You just go through the lineup and we’re getting contributions from everybody, and that’s why we’ve been able to put a winning streak together.
“...There’s going to be more adversity and there’s going to be harder adversity, and we’ll see how we handle that when we lose a game or two or three in a row. We’ll see how we handle it. But right now, I see us being mature and handling adversity very well.”
