Edmonton Oilers set NHL record for best single-season power play success rate
By Cam Lewis
1 year agoThe Edmonton Oilers finished off the 2022-23 regular season on a high note with a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks and they put their name into the record books in the process.
The Oilers converted on one of three power play opportunities against the Sharks in their win on Thursday, so they ultimately finished the season with a power play that scored 88 goals on 272 opportunities. The 32.4 percent success rate that the Oilers had this season edges out the previous high of 31.9 percent held by the 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens.
Leon Draisaitl’s power play goal against the Sharks on Thursday also set a franchise record for most power play goals in a single season. The 1987-88 team and the 2005-06 team both scored 88 goals on the power play and this year’s team scored 89.
Also worth noting…
- The win was Edmonton’s ninth in a row, which matches a franchise record set back during the 2000-01 season and during the first three rounds of the 1984-85 playoffs. The team’s last loss came back on March 25 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights and their most recent regulation loss was all the way back on March 11 in a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. That’s a stretch of 15 games and over one month without a loss in regulation.
- The Oilers finished the season with a 50-23-9 record, marking the fourth time in franchise history has reached 50 wins in a single season. The other three times came in 1986-87 with 50 wins, 1985-86 with 56 wins, and 1983-84 with 57 wins.
- Stuart Skinner picked up his 29th win of the season against San Jose and set a franchise record for wins in a single season by an Oilers goaltender. Grant Fuhr won 28 games as a rookie in 1981-82 and previously held the record.
- Connor McDavid finished the season with 64 goals, 88 assists, and 153 points and became just the fifth player in NHL history to outright lead the league in all three categories in a single season. Howie Morenz, Gordie Howe, Phil Esposito, and Wanye Gretzky are the other four who have done so, with the most recent being Gretzky in 1986-87.
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