The Edmonton Oilers won their 13th game in a row, dropping the Flames 3-1 in Calgary Saturday night.
It’s the most consecutive wins ever recorded by a Canadian team. The 1967/68 Montreal Canadiens won 12 in a row.
“We’re trying to stay humble and focused,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. “I think there’s a lot on the line. We talk about the standings and what we need to accomplish and are we happy with where we are right now . . . we should feel good about where we are, but we’re not really happy and content. And I think once we get content about where we are we’ll start to relax; we’ll start taking short cuts. And, you know, I don’t see our team doing that at all. We’re very driven, which is wonderful for a coach to have a group of players working as hard as they are and focused on the task. It just makes our job as a coaching staff pretty easy.”
After having several good chances on Flames goalie Dan Vladar, the Oilers finally broke through with 4;57 left in the first. Ryan McLeod got in behind the Flames defence and flicked in his ninth of the season.
The Flames tied it two minutes into the second period when MacKenzie Weegar chipped in a pass from Blake Coleman on a three-on-one.
The Oilers benefited from a good bounce 1:39 into the third. Sam Gagner’s pass from behind the net hit a skate then banked in off the thumb of Vladar’s trapper. Zach Hyman put it away with an empty netter in the final minute.
Stuart Skinner made 26 saves for his tenth straight win, tying the team record for most consecutive wins by a goalie (Grant Fuhr, 1985/86).
“We were going into the third period and we felt pretty comfortable in the spot that we were in, just because we’ve been playing so many games like that,” Skinner said. “So that’s the kind of hockey we want to play and those are normally the teams that do some good damage in the playoffs too, so, it’s good.”
The Oilers set a new team record with their ninth straight road win.
Connor McDavid’s point streak ended at 12 games.
The Oilers, 26-15-1, will host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 5:30 p.m., game at 7 p.m.).