The Edmonton Oilers extended their franchise-record winning streak to 13 games by defeating the Calgary Flames 3-1 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday (Jan. 20) in the second edition of the Battle of Alberta this season. Ryan McLeod opened the scoring late in the first period, firing a shot past Flames netminder Dan Vladar to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. MacKenzie Weegar pulled the Flames even with a goal at 1:58 of the second period.
Edmonton got the winning goal on a lucky bounce 1:39 into the final frame, when Sam Gagner’s pass attempt to Dylan Holloway deflected off Flames defender Rasmus Andersson and ended up behind Vladar. Zach Hyman sealed Calgary’s fate, scoring his team-leading 28th goal of the season into an empty net with 35 seconds remaining after making a spectacular individual effort to chase down the puck.
Vladar was named the first star of the game after making 29 saves. Second star honours went to Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner, who turned aside 26 of 27 shots by the Flames. Edmonton is now 2-0 against the Flames in 2023-24. The Oilers defeated their provincial rivals 5-2 in the 2023 Heritage Classic at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 29.
Related: Oilers Need to Turn Season Around at Heritage Classic
With 53 points from a record of 26-15-1, the Oilers are third in the Pacific Division standings. The team has made a remarkable turnaround from sitting second to last in the overall NHL standings just 10 weeks ago. But the biggest story coming out of the game was all the history made by the Oilers. Here’s a look at the records set or tied on Saturday:
Longest Win Streak by a Canadian Club
With a 13th straight victory, Edmonton surpassed the Montreal Canadiens for most consecutive wins by an NHL team based in Canada. Montreal has two 12-game winning streaks in its storied history. The first lasted from Jan. 6 to Feb. 3 in 1968. The second spanned the end of the 2014-15 season and the start of the 2015-16 campaign. The record for consecutive wins by an NHL team belongs to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who reeled off 17 straight victories in 1992-93.
Consecutive Road Wins by Oilers
The Oilers established a new team benchmark with their ninth consecutive win away from the friendly confines of Rogers Place. The previous franchise record for the longest single-season road win streak had been eight games, accomplished by the 1986-87 Oilers, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup.
Edmonton needs one more win to match the team record for consecutive road victories spanning multiple seasons. The Oilers closed out the 2020-21 season with seven straight wins on the road, then won their first three away games of 2021-22 for a streak of 10.
Most Wins in a Row by Oilers Goalie
Skinner picked up his 10th win in a row, tying Oilers legends Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog for consecutive victories by an Edmonton goalie.
Hall of Famer Fuhr won 10 straight decisions in 1986, from Valentine’s Day to March 25. Moog’s 10 consecutive victories spanned the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons, beginning March 11 and ending Oct. 19 in 1983.
Streaks of 2 Goals Against or Less
This was the Oilers’ 11th game in a row of holding the opposition to two or fewer goals, which is the longest such streak in franchise history. That distinction belonged to the 2001-02 Oilers, who went 10 straight games, allowing less than three goals.
Meanwhile, Skinner has now gone nine straight contests without giving up more than two goals, matching franchise-best streaks by Nikolai Khabibulin in 2011-12 and Tommy Salo in 2001-02.
Skinner and the Oilers will look to continue their record-setting ways when they play their next game, Tuesday (Jan. 23) at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
