Edmonton Oilers and the 16 Game Win Streak
Short Edition! EDITION #49
Intro
Happy February everyone! How the hell is it February already?
22 days away from the first MLB game of the year!
11 days away from the Super Bowl
21 days until the MLS season kicks off.
YESSSSSS. WE’RE ONE MORE EDITION AWAY FROM HITTING NUMBER 50! I’ve made this edition today so that hopefully I will be able to publish Edition #50 tomorrow, but it also may not happen…
The Edmonton Oilers are the HOTTEST team in hockey… Can they beat the record? How did they get here? A summary of the Oilers perfect January, and you can only find this work at Sports Square.
HEADLINES
Joel…
Seahawks…
Canucks…
Edmonton Oilers… How did they get here?
Before we go ahead and look at the reason, let’s check out the top 4 win streaks.
17 wins: 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins March 9, 1993, to April 10, 1993
16 wins: 2023-24 Edmonton Oilers, December 21, 2023 to now!
16 wins: 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets Nov. 29, 2016, through Jan. 3, 2017
15 wins: 1981-82 New York Islanders Jan. 21, 1982, through Feb. 20, 1982
15 wins: 2012-13 Pittsburgh Penguins March 2, 2013, through March 30, 2013
Yes. This 2023-24 team is just one win away from tying a record that has stood for 32 years.
Now let’s dig into this a little more.
The Edmonton Oilers had a perfect January…
They played a total of 11 games and 7 of them were at home, which could obviously be the reason they’re winning. As you see, they blew out everyone at home, but had to go through the stretch of two overtime games when they were on the road.
Another thing that you can see immediately is that they had a day of rest after every single game and that for three weeks straight, they played on a schedule of Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Okay… What’s the next question you guys want to hit at me?
Aaaaah, were they the Eagles and had this win streak only because they played against the easy team?
Maybe?
Here are the rankings of all the opponents they faced in the month of January.
Philadelphia Flyers, 11th overall, .597
Ottawa Senators, 29th, .412
Chicago Blackhawks, 31st, .325
Detroit Red Wings, 18th, .550
Montreal Canadiens, 25th, .488, 3rd game in 4 nights
Toronto Maple Leafs, 12th, .610, 3rd game in 4 nights
Seattle Kraken, 22nd, .534, 3rd game in 4 nights
Calgary Flames, 22nd, .522
Columbus Blue Jackets, 29th, .411
Chicago again, still 31st, .313, 3rd game in 4 nights
Nashville Predators, 16th, .552
Just 3 of the 11 January opponents were in a playoff spot on game night; 7 were 22nd or below; on average roughly 22nd place. 4 of those teams were playing a 3rd game in 4 nights, something the Oilers never faced all month.
Also, through Jan 30, the 10 different opponents the Oilers beat have won a combined 60 of 130 games in January. That sums to 0 for 11 against the Oilers, 60-59 against everybody else. (Not on point, but accurate…)
A bit of individual stats here!
Leading scorer: Connor McDavid, 19 points, T-7th; 1.73 P/GP, 5th (min 6 GP)
Leading goal scorer: Zach Hyman, 9 goals, T-8th; 0.82 G/GP, 6th
Top plus (forwards): Leon Draisaitl, +12, 1st; Connor McDavid, +11, T-2nd
Leading defence scorer: Evan Bouchard, 7 points, T-29th; 0.64 P/GP, 25th
Top plus (d-men): Evan Bouchard: +11, 3rd
Best goals against average: Stu Skinner, 1.33, 1st
Best save percentage: Stu Skinner, .953, 1st
I mean, the Oilers aren’t really as good as their record indicates. They haven’t been scoring many goals, but one thing is certain… The goalkeeping has been excellent.
The truth is, anyway, you get a win. It’s still a win. But, here’s one more comparison to the Eagles. You aren’t just fighting to get the best regular season record. No. You're fighting to get that Stanley Cup. The Eagles? They never won properly. They were almost a minus in some way when they won a game. Then? They played a team they beat in the regular season and they lost… Ya don’t want that to happen.
There is a bit of a tough schedule ahead for the Edmonton Oilers though.
12 games in the last 24 days of February, including the Golden Knights, Bruins, Stars, and 2 against the Kings. 8 of the 12 are on the road, with 2 pairs of back-to-backs.
15 contests in March, notably the Bruins, Avalanche, Jets, and Kings. 3 more back-to-backs.
10 games in just 18 days in April, 5 of them in the last week. Among the opposition are the Stars, Golden Knights, Canucks, and 2 against the Avalanche. 3 back-to-backs in the final 2 weeks, and no such thing as a “rest advantage” at any point.
The one good thing about this January win streak is that there are probably going to be fewer must-win games. That’ll put less pressure on them!
By the way? The Oilers started the first 12 games 2-10 and the first 17 games, 5-12. They literally lost to the SHARKS. Like, who does that?!
Hopefully, the Oilers actually win against the Vegas Golden Knights on February 6th, or else, this is going to be a big heartbreak… Both of these teams are coming off a huge break, and hopefully, no one lost any hockey skills during this time.
CURRENT NHL STANDINGS:
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Conclusion
I may see you guys tomorrow! I may see you guys on Monday! It all depends on a few deciding factors. I hope you guys enjoyed this edition about the Edmonton Oilers. I am thinking about the idea of making a section just related to talking about one team. Like an underdog feature? If you guys approve of this, I’ll get started right away. If you have any feedback, don’t hesitate to contact sportssquare@substack.com or thebest616161@gmail.com! I want to make sure that this newsletter is enjoyable for everyone, every morning!
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How did the Oilers win 16 straight??? I thought they suck!