Three times in the history of the Edmonton Oilers has the team won nine games in a row. The second-most recent streak happened during last season’s playoff stretch, with the initial nine-game streak dating back to 2001. On Thursday night, the Oilers did so again, defeating the Detroit Red Wings in overtime by a score of 3-2.
Darnell Nurse picked up the overtime winner in a game where Edmonton drastically outshot the Red Wings but had trouble beating Alex Lyon. They found way to pull out the victory and you could see just how much it meant to the group from their celebration on the ice. This same group of Oilers can set the franchise-record Saturday in Montreal.
What’s so interesting about the timing of things is that their next opponent, the Montreal Canadiens, also played on Thursday. Unfortunately, they lost to the lowly San Jose Sharks who snapped a 12-game losing streak to finally win a game. The score was 3-2 for the Sharks, and, frankly, the Canadiens did not look good.
According to Eric Engels of Sportsnet, it’s bad enough that the Canadiens lost. But, the way they lost is the bigger issue. He writes:
It was pretty similar to how they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday, and watching the Canadiens fail so glaringly on consecutive nights in the areas in which they had established so much progress on their way to mid-season was watching them take a considerable step back in their process.
Head coach Martin St. Louis said of his team’s play, “We know how we’re playing right now, we’re going to attack that. We can talk about defensive zone, we’ll tighten it up, we’ll talk about it.” He added, “Our execution, it’s gotta be better.” Forward Brendan Gallagher said the Canadiens need to ramp up their play and be more desperate for a solid effort and wins. He said they need to be “hungry to take that jump.”
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Any team can win on any given night in the NHL, but this is all good news for Edmonton. The red-hot Oilers get to face a team that isn’t sure what to do about how they’re playing. The Oilers are firing on all cylinders, while the Canadiens are lost.
Which Team Is More Desperate: The Canadiens or the Oilers?
Saturday’s game between these two will include a fascinating storyline. On one hand, you have a team in the Canadiens that is searching for their game and can’t seem to find it. They weren’t necessarily expected to be a playoff contender, but they aren’t supposed to be the team that helps a team like the Sharks break a losing streak.
On the other hand, you’ve got the Oilers, who can do something their storied franchise has never done — win 10 in a row. Even in the 80s, during the team’s dynasty years, that never happened. Not with Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, and not as the team was winning Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup.
Beating the Canadiens Can Put This Version of the Oilers in the History Books
This is the kind of thing that will be remembered if the Oilers can pull it off and Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, Zach Hyman and others will have their names all over it. Don’t kid yourself, that matters to these players.
Not only is it important for the team to win and keep the streak alive. These players want to write their names in the history books. They can do that against a team they should, on paper, dominate.
What’s so incredible, is that they can do it against a team that is a big part of their history — the Montreal Canadiens.
