The Edmonton Oilers tied a franchise record with their ninth consecutive victory by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday (Jan. 11).
Veteran defenceman Darnell Nurse scored the overtime winner for the Oilers, who also got goals from forwards Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid. Andrew Copp and Olli Maatta had one goal each for Detroit.
Edmonton outshot Detroit 47-17 for a plus-30 margin that ranks among the largest shot differentials in Oilers franchise history. Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon nearly stole the game for his team, making 44 saves in an awe-inspiring effort.
Starting for the first time since New Year’s Eve, Edmonton’s Calvin Pickard made 15 saves. The journeyman goaltender has now won three consecutive games, equaling the longest such streak of his career.
The game was scoreless until Copp scored at 3:34 of the third period. McDavid answered with a spectacular individual effort at 9:12 and Edmonton took a 2-1 lead at 14:00 on Hyman’s 26th goal of the season, just before Maatta scored to force overtime. Edmonton is now 8-8 this season when the opposition scores first. Five of those eight victories have come on the road.
With the victory, Edmonton improves to 22-5-1 and moves ahead of the Nashville Predators for the first wild card spot in the Western Conference standings.
Milestone Moments for Oilers
McDavid’s goal was point No. 906 of his career, tying Hall-of-Famer Glenn Anderson for fourth place in franchise history. Anderson played 845 games as a member of the Oilers, while McDavid has played only 605 games over his eight-plus NHL seasons.
Related: Oilers’ Unhappy Reunion with Glenn Anderson 25 Years Later
Edmonton’s captain wasn’t the only Oilers player on Thursday forcing record book rewrites: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins assisted on Hyman’s goal to move one ahead of Paul Coffey for most seventh most points in franchise history, with 670.
Meanwhile, Nurse now has 11 game-winning-goals (GWG), tying Kevin Lowe for second-most all-time for the Oilers by a defenceman. The 28-year-old has also tied Taylor Hall and Ryan Smith for the fourth most overtime goals in franchise history, with five apiece.
Hyman Makes Last-Minute Push For Votes
This was Edmonton’s last game before the NHL All-Star Fan Vote closed at 11:59:59 pm EST on Thursday, and Hyman made sure to leave a final impression on the electorate, as the 31-year-old winger led all players in the game with two points, from a goal and an assist, and finished the night with a plus-3 rating.
Hyman, who has never been to the midseason classic before, certainly has an All-Star resume this season. He’s tied for the fifth most goals in the NHL; He has Edmonton’s highest plus/minus (plus-15) and its most shots on goal (141); and he’s first on the Oilers in GWGs (four) as well as tied for the team lead in power-play goals (eight).
Only the top eight skaters in the Fan Vote will be added to the player roster for All-Star Weekend, which is set to take place in Hyman’s hometown of Toronto, Feb. 1-3. In the latest voting returns released on Tuesday (Jan. 9), Hyman was in 10th place, just over 55,000 votes back of eighth.
Oilers Go Streaking
The Oilers have now gone more than three weeks without a loss. After falling 3-1 to the New York Islanders on Dec. 19, they have won nine straight games, equalling the greatest single-season run in franchise history.
Edmonton has previously won nine in a row on two occasions, from Feb. 20 to March 13 in 2001 and from March 27 to April 13 in 2023. The former streak was halted by a 2-2 tie against the Florida Panthers, while the latter was brought to an end by the conclusion of the 2022-23 schedule.
Now the Oilers have a chance to make franchise history with their 10th straight win. They go for the record when the team visits the Montreal Canadiens for a Hockey Night in Canada matchup on Saturday (Jan. 13).
