Longest win streak in Oilers history
The Edmonton Oilers were one of the best teams in the NHL during the 1980s, winning four championships between 1984 and 1988, with a fifth championship coming at the conclusion of the 1989-90 season. Therefore, you may think the longest win streak in Oilers history occurred during that time frame.
But the Wayne Gretzky-era Oilers, which lasted from 1978 to 1988, did not enjoy such a feat despite their many championship runs. Or at least as far as the 2023-24 season goes. Even in the days following Gretzky’s departure to the Los Angeles Kings, you still won’t see the longest winning streak in team history in the record books.
Instead, such a streak occurred when we all least expected it, and that was in the 2023-24 season. If you’re familiar with the Oilers, you know the story, but if not, here’s some context: Edmonton got off to a horrific and surprising start to the season, which resulted in their coach, Jay Woodcroft, receiving his walking papers. Enter Kris Knoblauch, who turned the team’s fortunes around to the point that they won 16 straight games between December 21st and January 27th.
Oilers longest win streak was an unprecedented one in 2023-24
During their historic run, star forward Connor McDavid scored 26 points and nine goals while, Zach Hyman led the team in finding the net with 12. Goaltender Stuart Skinner started 12 games and finished the streak with a 0.950 save percentage and a 1.41 GAA. He totaled 324 saves in that stretch, recorded a shutout, and faced 341 shots on goal.
Edmonton also outscored opponents 62 to 24 across five weeks of some of the best hockey you will ever see. Break those numbers down, and the Oilers beat their opponents by an average of 3.87 to 1.5, which further averages to a 2.37 margin of victory.
While the overall winning streak ended following the All-Star Break, it was nonetheless an example of near-flawless hockey. It also showed us that even if a team struggles through a poor start, it doesn’t mean they can’t get it together later in the season and even enjoy what was a historic stretch.
feed
(Statistics and data provided by Hockey-Reference and QuantHockey)