The Edmonton Oilers extended their win streak to three games, defeating the San Jose Sharks 5-0 at SAP Center in San Jose on Thursday (Dec. 28). Playing for the first time in six days, they showed no signs of rust, scoring four times in the first period. Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan McLeod and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a goal for Edmonton, while Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner made 25 saves to notch his fourth career shutout and second this season.
Edmonton is now above .500 for the first time this season, with a record of 16-15-1 through 32 games. Here are three takeaways from the Oilers’ latest victory:
Oilers Show Improvements Against Sharks
Thursday was seven weeks to the date from the Oilers’ last visit to the SAP Center, on Nov. 9, when they were beaten 3-2 by the Sharks. Edmonton saw their record go to 2-9-1 and dropped into a tie with San Jose for the fewest points in the overall NHL standings.
That turned out to be rock bottom for the struggling Oilers. Three days later, Edmonton general manager Ken Holland relieved head coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant coach Dave Manson of their duties, replacing them with Kris Knoblauch and Paul Coffey, respectively.
Since their loss to the Sharks in early November, the Oilers have gone 14-6-0. They’re tied for the most wins in the NHL since Nov. 10.
Comparing the Oilers who cruised to victory on Thursday with the team that was beaten by the bottom-feeding Sharks on Nov. 9 shows the differences that have keyed Edmonton’s turnaround.
Over their first 12 games, the Oilers scored the first goal seven times, but only went on to win twice. Edmonton was a team plagued by its inability to protect and build on a lead. Conversely, after their latest result, the Oilers have now won seven of their last eight games when they open the scoring.
As soon as McLeod put the puck past San Jose goaltender Magnus Chrona exactly one minute into the first period on Thursday, the Oilers smelled blood in the water and went for the kill: Hyman, Bouchard and Draisaitl all tallied to put Edmonton up 4-0 before the game was 18 minutes old.
Defensively the Oilers played a clean game, giving Skinner a chance to stop every shot the Sharks fired his way. Edmonton killed off all three power-play opportunities for the Sharks.
Since changing coaches, Edmonton has cut its opponents’ scoring by more than one goal per game, going from a 3.92 goals-against average (GAA) with Woodcroft behind the bench to a 2.89 GAA under Knoblauch. The Oilers’ penalty kill has also improved substantially, from 70% under Woodcroft to 85.5% with Knoblauch at the helm.
McLeod Makes Difference for Oilers
Thursday’s tilt between the Sharks and Oilers was over the moment McLeod scored, literally and figuratively. The centre’s goal at the 62-second mark held up to be the literal game-winner, and while there were still 59 minutes for San Jose to rally, the Sharks might as well have given up, because teams simply don’t win when they concede a goal to McLeod.
At least, that’s what the numbers tell us, as Edmonton has now won 12 consecutive games when McLeod scores, going back to January 2023. It’s one of the more incredible stats to emerge from a team that’s seen a lot of them during the Connor McDavid era.
McLeod now has goals in three straight games, the longest such streak of his career. He’s scored the game-winning goal (GWG) in each of Edmonton’s last two contests, also a career-best streak and one off the Oilers franchise record of GWGs in three straight games shared by Glenn Anderson, Andrew Cogliano, Wayne Gretzky, Taylor Hall, Draisaitl and McDavid.
The 24-year-old, who also assisted on Draisaitl’s goal, has two points in each of Edmonton’s last three outings, the first streak of multi-point games since he debuted with the Oilers in 2021. Not unlike his team, McLeod has made a 180 after enduring a miserable start to the season. He didn’t score once in Edmonton’s first 21 games, but now has six goals in the last 11 games and is playing arguably the best hockey of his NHL career.
Depth Scoring Key to Oilers’ Success
Of course, it’s partly just coincidental that the Oilers have won 12 in a row when McLeod scores, but it also speaks to how important depth scoring is to the Oilers. That has been profoundly evident during Edmonton’s current winning streak, which also includes road victories over the New Jersey Devils (6-3 on Dec. 21) and New York Rangers (4-3 on Dec. 22).
Related: 3 Takeaways from Oilers’ 4-3 Road Win Against Rangers
The Oilers have scored 15 times during their current win streak, but only three have been scored by either Draisaitl or McDavid, who combined for 116 of Edmonton’s 325 goals in 2022-23. And while the dynamic duo have just six points between them, a total of 15 Oilers have either scored or assisted over these last three games. Eleven different Oilers were credited with a point on Thursday.
It’s all a recipe for success for the Oilers, who continue on their California trip with a game on Saturday (Dec. 30) against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
