GDB 43.0 Wrap Up: Oilers extend winning streak to 14 games with win over Blue Jackets
3 months ago
All good things must come to an end.
Unfortunately for the Columbus Blue Jackets, their three game win streak against the Edmonton Oilers has come to an end, as Edmonton won their 14th-straight game 4-1.
Let’s take a look at the Oilersnation’s Player of the Game, as well as things worth mentioning.
THE WRAP UP IS PRESENTED BY BETWAY
Oilersnation’s Player of the Game: Stuart Skinner
Stuart Skinner had a rough start to his season, but he’s starting to look like a true number-one netminder.
Despite the Oilers winning 4-1, they were not the better team for the first two periods, as they had plenty of awful turnovers on their own end. Thankfully, Skinner held them in it for their third-period explosion. Skinner saved 27 of 28 shots for a .964 save percentage, including this massive breakaway save.
As we’ve done for a while now, we’ll look at Skinner’s stats since November 11, the day the Oilers turned their season around. Since that game, Skinner has a 21-4-0 record with a .924 save percentage, bringing his season total to .908.
In fact, this was his 11th win in a row, which sets the new Oilers record as he surpassed Grant Fuhr’s record of 10 in a row.
Things worth mentioning
Dylan Holloway returned to the lineup on Saturday after suffering a broken kneecap in November. He scored his second goal of the season to give the Oilers a 4-1 lead, and man it’s nice to have that depth back in the lineup for the fourth line.
Connor McDavid’s 12-game point streak ended on Saturday, but he got back in the point column with his 17th goal of the season after a Blue Jacket defenceman blasted Zach Hyman into his goaltender. McDavid also scored in the second period, but it was reversed for offside.
Connor Brown didn’t score, but he did pick up his fourth assist on the season. At this point, he’s one of the unluckiest players in the league and it’s only a matter of time before one of these shots go in the back of the net.
Warren Foegele is so important to this team, as he opened the scoring with his 10th goal of the season. So far in 43 games, he has 10 goals and 26 points, just three goals and four points shy of matching his career-high totals. I really hope they can re-sign him.
Evander Kane picked up the game-winning goal on a bit of a broken play, burying the rebound for his 15th of the season. This was just his fourth goal in his last 21 games, but if he gets going, watch out.
Edmonton’s penalty kill has been phenomenal, as they had killed off 31 of their last 32 heading into tonight’s game. On Tuesday, they killed off all four penalties they took and continue to be fantastic at it.
Edmonton’s win streak now sits at 14, just the seventh time in league history a team has reached that mark and the first time since the Columbus Blue Jackets had a 16-game win streak in 2016-17. The record belongs to the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins, who had a 17-game win streak that season, meaning the Oilers just need four more wins to match them. Over their next four games, they’ll face off against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Nashville Predators, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Anaheim Ducks.
The last 10 minutes saw the Columbus Blue Jackets be completely shut down, only registering four shots in the final ten minutes and five for the entire period. Unfortunately, this ended a six game stretch where the Oilers allowed three or less shots on goal in the final 10 minutes of the game.
With the win, the Oilers now have a 27-15-1 record and have 55 points, six points safe (with two games in hand) of the final wild card spot. They trail the Golden Knights for second in the Pacific by seven points, but have five games in hand on the reigning Stanley Cup Champions.
The Oilers are a wagon, and it’d be awesome to see them win 18 in a row.
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