One of the most important numbers in Edmonton Oilers’ history took on a whole new meaning Tuesday (Jan. 16) at Rogers Place, where the home team defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2.
The victory was Edmonton’s 11th straight, marking the franchise’s longest winning streak, and it came in the arena where a banner bearing the number 11, belonging to Oilers legend Mark Messier, hangs in the rafters.
Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan McLeod and Derek Ryan each had a goal for the Oilers, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit after Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Margon Rielly scored to stake the Maple Leafs to a two-goal lead. Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped 25 of 27 shots, while his Toronto counterpart Martin Jones made 28 saves.
Edmonton improved its record to 24-15-1 and now has 49 points, just one back of the Los Angeles Kings for third place in the Pacific Division standings. Here’s a look at how the Oilers won for an incredible 19th time in their last 22 games.
Oilers Rally Again as Leafs Blow Another Lead
Tuesday’s game saw both teams follow their respective trends of late: in the case of the Oilers, coming from behind; in the case of the Leafs, coughing up leads.
Matthews potted his 34th goal of the season just 27 seconds after puck drop. It was the second consecutive game that the Oilers allowed a goal in the opening two minutes of the first period, and the fourth time in a row that Edmonton has surrendered the game’s opening goal.
Rielly’s goal at 10:52 of the second period put the Maple Leafs ahead by two, before Draisaitl scored at 15:41 to make the score 2-1 in favour of Toronto going into the intermission. It was Edmonton’s second straight game trailing after 40 minutes, and the third time in a row the Oilers would trail during the third period.
Related: Bouchard is Oilers’ Best Offensive Defenceman Since Coffey
Edmonton wasted little time pulling even, as Ryan scored only 2:27 into the third period to make it 2-2. The game remained tied until McLeod’s goal at 16:55 gave the Oilers their first lead, and Bouchard put the game away by putting the puck into an empty net with 93 seconds remaining.
Over these last 11 games, the Oilers are 6-0 when the opposition scores first and 4-0 when they trail after two periods. The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, have now lost four consecutive games. In three of them, Toronto held a lead of at least two goals and took a lead into the third period in all of them.
Skinner Gives Oilers Opportunity to Win
Arguably the biggest reason Edmonton has been able to come from behind so often recently is the play of Skinner. Were it not for some huge saves by the 25-year-old goalie in the first and second periods, Toronto could easily have been in front by three or four goals.
Tuesday’s game was the seventh straight that Skinner has recorded a win while allowing two goals or fewer. No other goalie in Oilers history has done that in more than six consecutive games.
Oilers Get Balanced Scoring
Edmonton’s Hart Trophy-winning duo of Draisaitl and Connor McDavid (both of whom have been selected to play in the 2024 All-Star Game) registered only a point each on Tuesday, with the latter picking up an assist on McLeod’s goal.
Over Edmonton’s 11-game winning streak, Draisaitl and McDavid are averaging 1.09 and 1.55 points per game, respectively. Those numbers are less than their averages of recent seasons.
But that only serves to underscore how this record-setting streak has been a team effort, and no game epitomized that more than Tuesday’s victory, with members of Edmonton’s third line producing the tying and winning goals. McLeod has scored the game-winning goal (GWG) three times during the winning streak, which is triple the number of GWGs he had in his entire career beforehand. The 24-year-old is one of six Oilers with at least 10 points in the last 11 games.
There is no No. 12 banner in Rogers Place, but the Oilers can make that a significant number in franchise history if they extend their record win streak to a dozen games with a victory when they host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday (Jan. 18).
