Surging Edmonton Oilers win 16th in a row to move within one of NHL record

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had a goal and two assists and the Edmonton Oilers won their 16th straight game to move within one of tying the NHL record, beating the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Saturday.

Edmonton will attempt to tie the record set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins when they return from the All-Star break to play at Vegas on 6 February. The Oilers matched the 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets for the second-longest streak.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman also scored and Stuart Skinner made 28 saves to help Edmonton improve to 29-15-1. The Oilers are 24-3-0 in their last 27 and have a franchise-record streak of 14 games without allowing more than two goals.

Colton Sissons scored for Nashville. The Predators who have lost three of four.

Edmonton opened the scoring on a power play at 7:55 of the first period. Nugent-Hopkins slid into the high slot and took a feed from Draisaitl before unleashing a quick wrist shot that beat goalie Kevin Lankinen for his 12th goal of the season.

The Nashville Predators’ Yakov Trenin (13) and Colton Sissons (10) react as the Edmonton Oilers’ Mattias Ekholm (14), Zach Hyman (18), Connor McDavid (97), Leon Draisaitl (29) and Evan Bouchard (2) celebrate after a third-period goal on Saturday. Photograph: Amber Bracken/AP

The Oilers’ power play came through again with 8:21 left in the second. McDavid sent it across to Draisaitl for a one-timer and his 23rd. The goal was Draisaitl’s 800th career point, making him the fourth-fastest player to reach the milestone, doing so in 683 games.

McDavid made it 3-0 at 9:12 of the third. He swung behind the net and banked the puck off of Lankinen’s backside from behind the goal line for his 20th.

Sissons ended Skinner’s shutout bid with 6:33 during a scramble in front of the net, the first goal allowed by Edmonton in 158 minutes.

Hyman capped the scoring with an empty-netter for his 30th of the season.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/jan/27/edmonton-oilers-nhl-record-consecutive-wins