Among hockey fans and NHL commentators, all the talk around the Edmonton Oilers lately seems to be about chasing NHL records and eclipsing previous franchise milestones.
As the team prepares to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Rogers Place on Tuesday night, Oilers players suggest they are keeping that outside noise away from their dressing room as much as possible.
“It’s honestly something that we haven’t really paid too much attention to,” captain Connor McDavid said this weekend, when the Oilers set a new record for the longest winning streak by a Canadian-based NHL team.
“We’re just trying to take it one game at a time. I know that sounds cliché, but I think maybe it was mentioned one time in here.”
The Oilers set the new winning streak record for Canadian teams when they earned a 3-1 victory over the Flames in Calgary on Saturday night.
The Oilers have now won 13 games in a row and are slowly approaching the overall NHL record of 17-straight wins set by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1992-93 season.
Interestingly, the Oilers’ opponents on Tuesday night had the second-longest winning streak in NHL history. In the 2016-17 season, the Blue Jackets won an incredible 16 games in a row.
The hockey club has also won nine-straight games on the road to break the Oilers’ team record set in 1986-87.
Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner has played particularly well as the Oilers pile up crucial wins, building momentum as the NHL playoff race heats up and after the Oilers began the season by struggling to defeat their opponents.
“We’re still here to battle — to grind and to make our way up the leader board,” he said this weekend, noting that the success the team is having is “very cool.”
With Saturday’s win, Skinner also tied an Oilers franchise record, winning his 10th-straight game in goal, a record set by legendary Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“Stu’s given us a chance to win every night,” McDavid said of the goaltender. “So has Picks (backup goaltender Calvin Pickard) when he’s gone in there, (and) all six D-men (defencemen) are playing really, really solid.”
Oilers forward Zach Hyman also suggested the team is able to maintain a “game at a time” approach but acknowledged it’s hard not to completely ignore what has developed.
“The 10-game streak eclipsed the Oilers’ 80s teams, now it’s the old Montreal team (that held the consecutive wins record among Canadian teams) … (but) when you’re in the moment, you just kind of go with it and play,” he said.
“But I’m sure it’ll be something cool to look back on.”
He also said that while it’s a team effort, Skinner’s play has played a significant role in the success.
“Obviously he’s been playing some pretty incredible hockey.”
The Oilers began the season with high expectations but started with a horrific 3-9-1 record, leading to the dismissal of head coach Jay Woodcroft, who was replaced by Kris Knoblauch.
They have since gone 23-6-0 since Knoblauch took over.
On Monday, the Oilers announced they had signed free agent forward Corey Perry in a bid to boost the team’s depth and competitiveness as the fight to earn a spot in the NHL playoffs this spring intensifies.
Perry practised with the team shortly after the signing was announced but Knoblauch suggested Monday it would still be at least a few days before the former Hart Trophy winner takes part in an actual game.
He said the earliest he expects Perry might play would be Saturday.
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