Not much needs to be said with regards to the Edmonton Oilers and their current crazy 16-game winning streak. Don’t look now, but they are just one game away from the all-time record set by Mario Lemieux and his overpowering Pittsburgh Penguins back during the 1992-93 season.
Everything seems to be clicking for the entire team, whether it be the stars delivering, the complimentary pieces providing the secondary scoring, and the defence and goaltending holding down the fort. However, despite the historical achievement thus far, there are some pros and cons to all of this as the Oilers head into the NHL All-Star break.
Let’s start with the good. First of all, having this impressive winning streak will help the Oilers carry their momentum into the second half of the season, giving them that strong mentality that they can always win no matter what. This bode wells as the season progresses, since having the right mindset means half the battle. With the ability to beat any team in the league, that type of confidence-building can essentially take them further in the playoffs this time around, and perhaps even all the way.
Secondly, being able to rest up a bit during this break allows for any Oilers currently dealing with ailments extra time to heal up, making them even healthier and stronger if they weren’t already scary enough. Finally, the Oilers’ huge turnaround in-season with their current winning streak is kind of reminiscent of what the St. Louis Blues did during their 2018-19 magical run to the Stanley Cup. Both the Oilers and Blues were near the bottom of the entire league and fired their coaches to help kick-start the turnaround. So perhaps this is a good omen for the team in their quest for the Cup.
However, there might be some downside to all of this. Despite the Oilers' record winning streak, somehow they are still only third in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference. So if they happen to regress a bit to the mean in the second half, they could be battling for their lives just to make it into the playoffs. Also, by playing so well already mid-season, some may believe the team is peaking too early and may have nothing left come playoff time.
Finally, despite all the winning, there are still some aspects of the Oilers' game that needs some significant improvement. For instance, they are currently ranked third in the league in giveaways with 479, despite playing less games compared to the majority of the league as well. But because they have been rolling along, it has masked some of these deficiencies that could come back to haunt them down the road.
Nevertheless, hopefully Oilers fans can witness some history for the team following the All-Star break. They will then hope to use this as a platform to complete some unfinished business come playoff time.