GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Predators 1

EDMONTON, AB – Sixteen straight heading into the NHL All-Star break.

Stuart Skinner made 28 saves, while the Dynamic Duo of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid combined for seven points as the Edmonton Oilers earned their 16th straight victory on Saturday afternoon to pull to within one of tying the NHL record with a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators at Rogers Place.

"It's special," Draisaitl said. "It takes a lot of good efforts, a lot of good games to get to that number. I think we've been a bit sloppy the last three, but obviously we've had some individual performances that got us the win. You need that sometimes too, so it's been a great stretch for us."

Skinner had his shutout spoiled by Nashville centre Colton Sissons with 6:35 left in regulation, but that didn't stop the Edmonton-born goaltender from extending his franchise-record win streak to 12 games and improving to 19-2-0 in his last 21 starts with another steady performance between the pipes for the Blue & Orange.

Draisaitl picked up a goal and two assists to surpass 800 career points, and McDavid followed suit alongside his NHL All-Star teammate by scoring twice and adding a helper to stretch his home point streak to 18 games (12G, 28A).

Zach Hyman reached 30 goals on the season with an empty-netter in the final four minutes of regulation, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also contributed to the victory with a goal and assist – both coming on the power play.

The Oilers head into the NHL All-Star break on a 16-game win streak and with a 29-15-1 overall record. Their opportunity to match the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins' NHL record of 17 straight wins is set to come at T-Mobile Arena when they face off against the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 6.

"It should be fun," McDavid said. "We obviously owe Vegas a good game in their building, and it's a fun building to play in. We love playing there. We know firsthand the environment and they're a great team that's also playing really well, so it's something to look forward to at the end of the break."

FIRST PERIOD

You know what they say: "Death, taxes and Nugent-Hopkins going low blocker."

The longest-tenured Oiler lifted his side into a 1-0 lead almost seven minutes into the opening period when the first-unit power play took the patient approach on Edmonton's first opportunity with the man advantage.

Leon Draisaitl waited for the space to open up for Nugent-Hopkins in the slot before he dished it to No. 93, who fired his 12th goal of the campaign and third this season on the power play low blocker on Kevin Lankinen before the puck wrapped around the inside of Nashville's net and out for the 1-0 lead.

McDavid added the secondary assist on Nugent-Hopkins' goal, extending his home point streak to 18 games with 11 goals and 26 assists. The captain had a 21-game home point streak last season and only trails Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon for home scoring streaks this season, with the League's current leading scorer from the Avalanche recording a point in 25 straight home games.

Edmonton escaped the period with a 1-0 lead thanks to an incredible stop from Stuart Skinner on the power play, denying Luke Evangelista with the blocker to send it out of play after the Nashville forward had an open-net look in front that was set up by Tommy Novak from the left of Edmonton's net.

Skinner made seven stops in the opening 20 minutes, with none bigger than that important stop on Evangelista.

"That was a great play, especially on the power play," Skinner said. "It's difficult to kind of anticipate what's going to happen just because they have so many plays that they could potentially make. That's why it's so important how my D play it, and I think they really helped me kind of read that play a little bit better.

"I believe it was Darnell, but he kind of took away [Novak's] shot opportunity, so I kind of knew it had to go somewhere and I was able to come up with a save. It's always a good feeling making saves like that."

SECOND PERIOD

From his regular spot in the right circle on the power play, Leon Draisaitl drove home his 800th career point to give Edmonton a two-goal lead with 8:21 left in the second period.

McDavid fanned on a pass to his right meant for Draisaitl while positioned along the blueline during Edmotnon's second power play of the afternoon, but the captain quickly corrected his mistake by collecting the puck and moving it in the other direction to Nugent-Hopkins.

No. 93 threw it across the middle of Nashville's zone back to Draisaitl before it was returned to McDavid's stick in between the hash marks, but instead of taking his shot, the captain slid it back to his other half of the Dynamic Duo for a one-timer that beat Lankinen clean into the back of the net for his 800th career point and 23rd goal of the campaign.

After Saturday's win, Draisaitl has now picked up 329 goals and 472 assists in 683 career games – including an incredible 19 goals and 14 assists in his last 13 matchups against the Predators. Over his career, the German has operated almost unopposed against the club, amassing an unbelievable 25 goals and 17 assists in 26 career games head-to-head versus Nashville.

Edmonton's regular forward contributors of McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl each found the scoresheet again on Draisaitl's 23rd goal of the season, making it a two-goal lead and two points apiece for the trio through two periods.

"It's nice to score a few on the power play. It's been an area that has probably been our weakest through this stretch and we know that our power play can change games," McDavid said. "It can be a huge asset for us as we've shown over the past few years, so if we can get that going at a high level and keep our game where it's at, it only adds to the group."

The defending had to continue playing solid down the stretch to push their streak of allowing two goals or fewer to 13 in a row, with Vincent Desharnais providing a sliding interception on the penalty kill after the puck popped out to Tommy Novak for an open look two minutes after Draisaitl delivered his 800th point.

"I think it's been really impressive," Skinner said of his team's defensive success. "It's obviously been a lot of fun being able to be on the back end of those things. Like how you saw tonight, we did everything we could to keep the puck out of our net. You saw it in the second period when Vinny dove for it and was very noticeable then, but even the small details that we're doing defensively have been making a huge difference."

THIRD PERIOD

McDavid put the Oilers on a firm track towards securing their 16th consecutive victory when he made it two consecutive contests with three points by putting his 20th goal of the year off the back of Lankinen from below the goal line near the midway mark of the final frame.

The tally was McDavid's 916th career point, which leaves him 84 points shy of reaching 1,000 for his career with only 37 regular-season games remaining. We've seen No. 97 do some incredible things over his career, so we won't discount him from achieving the feat this season.

The Predators broke up Skinner's shutout four minutes after McDavid's marker when a wayward play in front of Edmonton's crease led to Colton Sissons getting the final touch before it bounced over the netminder's right pad, adding some late intrigue to the contest.

Zach Hyman dispelled any doubts about their 16th straight victory by notching his 30th goal of the season into an empty net with 3:19 left in regulation.

Edmonton enters the All-Star break with a 29-15-1 record – third place in the Pacific Division – and the chance to equal the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins with their 17th win in a row when their schedule resumes on Feb. 6 against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

PARTING WORDS

Perry on making his Oilers debut and receiving cheers from the crowd at Rogers Place:

"It's good. I had no issues, and that's why I put all the work in to get back to this spot and I took it."

"It's nice. I heard it during the national anthem. It's been like that all week. It's been a warm welcome and I'm excited."

Perry on his impressions of the Oilers after joining the team on a franchise-record win streak:

"Yeah, they take a lot of pride in their D-zone first and work their way out. That's one thing on the bench they were talking about – a lot is making sure you got the third man high and come back into your own zone and get that puck out. Then, they have to reset. So that's one thing I noticed. Skins played pretty well back there and made some big saves for us."

Knoblauch gives his thoughts on Perry's Oilers debut alongside Holloway and McLeod:

"Very happy with that line. We kind of thought that's where we were going to go. With Corey playing with those two speedsters, they get around the ice pretty well and are able to transport the puck, get it up ice, but Corey's so slick around the net. He's got that touch, and he had some nice little tricky shots where the goalie made nice saves where otherwise he would have surprised him."

Knoblauch on the streak inside the Oilers locker room:

"We know about the streak only because [the media] have talked about it. You bring it up. You ask us in these questionnaires, but honestly, we don't talk about it in the room. Maybe it's on our minds a little bit, but as boring as it sounds, we take it one game at a time and we're worried about who our next opponent is. It feels good to win any game after it's done and you come in after a victory. Those feel good and it doesn't matter how many it's been in a row."