Edmonton: The first rule of winning is to keep your mouth shut while discussing your winning ways.
That is, at the very least, the team motto in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room.
Tuesday night in Las Vegas, the Oilers can equal the NHL record with their 17th consecutive victory. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who began their historic run in the spring of 1993, now hold the record.
The plots come to life on their own. By defeating the Golden Knights, who are now the defending Stanley Cup champions and terminated the Oilers’ playoff run last spring, the club may tie the record.
Following Monday’s practice at Rogers Place, the Oilers played down the significance of the streak.
The Oilers’ all-star forward Leon Draisaitl stated, “We didn’t talk about it, and that’s what’s made us so successful over the last little bit.” “We didn’t give it too much attention. We’re just going to keep heading in that direction. Tomorrow will be a terrific test for us, and hopefully we can continue.
With 67 points, captain Connor McDavid, who is presently tied for fourth in the scoring race, stated, “We’re not talking about it in there (the dressing room).” I believe that for us, it really comes down to living day to day and concentrating on what’s in front of us. Additionally, we face a very strong Vegas team, one that’s ahead of us in the standings, and one that we’d like to catch.”
After a dismal 3-9-1 start to the season that resulted in head coach Jay Woodcroft’s resignation, the Oilers’ winning run has propelled them to third place in the Pacific Division. Despite having five games remaining, the Oilers trail Vegas by five points. Despite only four games remaining, the Oilers sit 12 points behind the Vancouver Canucks in first place.
When the Oilers played at Rogers Place on January 27, they defeated Nashville 4-1. Some supporters might think that the team’s momentum was halted after the All-Star game and bye week. But coach Kris Knoblauch puts more emphasis on relaxation than momentum worries.
Usually, when you’re on a winning streak, you don’t want it to break up, but I think it was good for our guys to recharge,” said Knoblauch. “And it looked like we were just kind of limping in, doing enough just to win hockey games. “
Knoblauch is glad that the Oilers are starting their post-break stretch with a three-game road trip to Nevada and California. After a lengthy timeout, he believes it is easier to concentrate on games while playing away from the home crowd.
“You can allow your lines just to roll. You’re not really worried about the matchups so much, it just takes the pressure off of everyone.”
With 45 games played, the Oilers have games in hand on everyone else in the NHL. That means they go into the next three months knowing they have the most congested schedule in the league ahead of them.
“It seems like we’ve had lots of different breaks,” said McDavid. “We’re still four, five, six games behind some teams — behind the whole league it almost seems like.”
Despite having games in hand to reel in Vegas and Vancouver, Knoblauch says he doesn’t want the team to exhaust itself chasing down the leaders.
The key, he said, is to be ready for the playoffs when they begin in April, whether it be as a No. 1 seed or a No. 8 seed.
Knoblauch declared, “We want to win as many games as we can.” However, we don’t want to push ourselves too much to the point that we exhaust ourselves trying to win our division. That would be fantastic, and it would occur if that did. In the end, though, what we really want is to improve daily and position ourselves for postseason success.
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