GDB 37.0 Wrap Up: Oilers match season-high with eighth win in a row after edging out Blackhawks
3 months ago
For the second time this season, the Edmonton Oilers are on an eight-game winning streak.
Will they match their franchise record of nine consecutive wins with another? We’ll see on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings. But, for now, let’s talk about the 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks that moved the Oilers to 21-15-1 on the season.
It was an ugly one, but a win’s a win. First, our player of the game, and then some other things worth mentioning from the win.
THE WRAP UP IS PRESENTED BY BETWAY
Oilersnation’s Player of the Game: Stuart Skinner
It’s safe to say that Stuart Skinner is back.
The 25-year-old netminder faced 26 shots and saved all but one of them for a .962 save percentage. This was the former third-round pick’s sixth straight game with a save percentage, by far the longest stretch of games with this statistic.
If you’ve been following along with post-games, you’ll know that we’ve looked at his save percentage since the Oilers turned their season around on November 11. Since this date, Skinner has had a 16-4-0 record with a .918 save percentage.
In fact, Skinner now has a.901 save percentage and a 2.69 goals-against average on the season, which isn’t too bad considering he started the year going 1-5-1 with an .854 save percentage.
The Oilers probably still need to add a backup goalie depending on how they view Calvin Pickard, but Skinner has been tremendous for nearly two months now.
Things worth mentioning…
Connor McDavid scored his 15th of the season, extending his point streak to eight games. Furthermore, he has at least one point in 19 of his last 20 games. For the season, he has 55 points, which is tied for sixth in the league.
Leon Draisaitl also picked up a goal, his 19th of the season. The 27-year-old hasn’t been as dominant as he has been in seasons prior, but he still has 43 points on the season and looks to be a lock to make it into the All-Star game.
Zach Hyman had a goal taken away as Draisaitl was just off-side. It would’ve been his 26th goal of the season, which would be tied for fourth in the league and only five behind Auston Matthews. Still, Hyman deserves to be in the All-Star game, so go vote him in!
Edmonton returns to action on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings at 5:00 PM MT. They’ll look for a season-high nine-game win streak that would also match a franchise best. However, Detroit is no pushover as they just swept their California road trip and are starting to get rolling again after an abysmal month of December.
The Oilers are currently in the second wild-card spot but tied with the Seattle Kraken, who won their seventh consecutive game on Tuesday. Still, Edmonton has a game in hand, and there are about seven teams all within a few points of one another.
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