EDMONTON, AB - OCTOBER 13: Jesse Puljujarvi #13 of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates a goal against the Vancouver Canucks with teammates Darnell Nurse #25, Connor McDavid #97, Leon Draisaitl #29 and Tyson Barrie #22 during the first period at Rogers Place on October 13, 2021 in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
Edmonton — The first rule of winning is to keep your mouth shut when discussing your winning streak. That is, at the very least, the team motto in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room.
Edmonton: The first rule of winning is to keep your mouth shut when discussing your winning ways.
That is, at the very least, the team motto in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room.
Tuesday night in Las Vegas, the Oilers can tie the NHL record with their 17th consecutive victory. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who began their historic run in the spring of 1993, currently hold the record.
The plots come to life on their own. By defeating the Golden Knights, who are now the defending Stanley Cup champions and terminated the Oilers’ playoff run last spring, the team may tie the record.
Following Monday’s practice at Rogers Place, the Oilers played down the significance of the streak.
The Oilers’ all-star forward Leon Draisaitl stated, “We didn’t talk about it, and that’s what’s made us so successful over the last little bit.” “We didn’t give it too much attention. We’re just going to keep heading in that direction. Tomorrow will be a good test for us, and hopefully we can continue.
With 67 points, captain Connor McDavid, who is presently tied for fourth in the scoring race, stated, “We’re not talking about it in there (the dressing room).” I believe that for us, it really comes down to living day to day and concentrating on what’s in front of us. And we have an excellent Vegas squad in front of us; they are ahead of us in the standings, and we hope to catch them.
After a dismal 3-9-1 start to the season that resulted in head coach Jay Woodcroft’s resignation, the Oilers’ winning run has propelled them to third place in the Pacific Division. Despite having five games remaining, the Oilers trail Vegas by five points. Despite only four games remaining, the Oilers sit 12 points behind the Vancouver Canucks in first place.
When the Oilers played at Rogers Place on January 27, they defeated Nashville 4-1. Some supporters might think that the team’s momentum was halted after the All-Star game and bye week. But coach Kris Knoblauch puts more emphasis on relaxation than momentum worries.
“Normally, you don’t want a winning streak to end, but I think our guys needed some time to regroup,” Knoblauch remarked. “And it appeared as though we were barely making progress, barely making enough to win hockey games.”
Knoblauch is happy that the Oilers will be traveling to Nevada and California for three games as part of their post-break schedule. He feels that playing away from home crowds makes it simpler to focus on games after a long break.
“You can just let your lines roll. It really relieves everyone of some of their strain, so you’re not really concerned about the matchups that much.”
The Oilers lead every other NHL team by a margin of games played, having played 45 games. They will therefore enter the next three months aware that they have the league’s busiest schedule ahead of them.
McDavid remarked, “It seems like we’ve had a lot of different breaks.” “It seems like we’re still four, five, or six games behind some teams—behind the entire league.”
Knoblauch says he doesn’t want the squad to wear itself out trying to catch up to the leaders, even though they have games left to win in Vegas and Vancouver.
Whether you start the playoffs as the top seed or the eighth seed, the important thing is to be prepared, he stated. The playoffs start in April.
Knoblauch declared, “We want to win as many games as we can.” However, we don’t want to push ourselves too much to the point that we exhaust ourselves trying to win our division. That would be fantastic, and it would occur if that did. In the end, though, all we really want is to improve daily and position ourselves for postseason success.
