PREVIEW: Oilers at Golden Knights

The Edmonton Oilers return from the All-Star break with the chance to tie an NHL record on Tuesday night with their 17th win in a row against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

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PREVIEW: Oilers at Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS, NV – There’s nothing that’s left to be said for the Oilers – or in their case ‘unsaid’ – about what’s up for grabs in Tuesday’s high-stakes tilt against the Golden Knights.

“Both teams know the situation, so it's going to be a good game,” Leon Draisaitl said. “We know what they're going to try to do, but I think what's made us so successful over the last little bit is that we haven't talked about it. We haven't made too big of a fuss out of it, so we’re just going to continue down that path.

“It's going to be a good test for us tomorrow and hopefully, we can keep it going.”

The Oilers can match the longest win streak in NHL history with their 17th straight victory on Tuesday against the Golden Knights in an important Pacific Division duel at T-Mobile Arena coming out of the All-Star break.

Edmonton beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 at Rogers Place in their final game before the break on Jan. 29 to make it 16 victories in a row, tying the 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets and pulling to within one of matching the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins for the longest win streak in League history.

The Oilers are the first NHL club to begin a 16-game win streak from outside the playoffs and have since risen into third place in the Pacific – owning a 29-15-1 record that's just five points back of Vegas with five games in hand after finding themselves 13-15-1 and only six points ahead of the bottom-dwelling San Jose Sharks on Dec. 20.

Including their 2023 second-round series where Vegas eliminated Edmonton from the postseason in six games, the Oilers hold a slim 5-4-1 advantage over the Golden Knights in their last 10 meetings, while outscoring them by a narrow 38-37 margin.

Over 20 regular season encounters, Edmonton is 12-6-2 against Vegas, which includes their 5-4 shootout win earlier this season on Nov. 28 that was just as tight as their head-to-head record after Jack Eichel and Keegan Kolesar scored late to tie the game.

Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists in that contest and has recorded three points in each of his last two meetings with the Golden Knights, along with a five-game point streak of two goals and eight assists versus Edmonton’s rivals from the Pacific.

The Oilers captain has 22 points over the 16-game win streak where his team’s collective strength has come from staying focused on the objective and the defensive side of their game, allowing a franchise-record two goals or fewer in 14 straight games.

“I would say we're just focused on playing our best hockey. That's ultimately what it is,” McDavid said. “I think that's been kind of this good stretch of play that we've had. It's just been we're not focusing on anything other than playing good hockey, and that's our focus.

“We know if we do that, then wins will come, and with wins comes moving up the standings. So we're focused on what's in front of us and that's it.”

Edmonton has allowed only 24 over their 16-game win streak, including only 11 high-danger goals against dating to Dec. 21 as per NHL EDGE Puck and Player Tracking Data, which according to Leon Draisaitl can be attributed greatly to one simple factor.

“Goaltending,” the German said matter-of-factly. “Both of them have been unbelievable for us.”

"But with that being said, I also think that we're sticking to our system for 60 minutes and everyone's doing their job. I think we're very dialled in right now as to what your jobs are and what we're supposed to do in certain situations, and we're just playing really good defence. When we do give something up, our goalies have been outstanding for us. It's a good combination."

Starting netminder Stuart Skinner has been nothing short of sensational with a 19-2-0 record in his last 21 starts, including a personal 12-game win streak that's two off tying the all-time NHL record.

The Edmonton product has a 1.41 goals-against average, a .951 save percentage and a shutout over that span, while backup Calvin Pickard has also turned in a four-game win streak of his own, stopping all 25 shots he faced for his fifth career shutout in a 3-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawksin his last start on Jan. 25.

The Oilers are beginning a stretch of 37 games in 73 days on Tuesday where they'll play seven back-to-backs, including this Friday and Saturday in Anaheim and Los Angeles. Both netminders will get their fair share of starts down the stretch in the push to help secure their teams' playoff spot.

Kris Knoblauch praised his team's collective ability over his nearly three-month tenure as Oilers head coach to make the simple decision, which has enabled his squad to go forward and make plays – an approach that's been implemented in the locker room with the help of assistants Paul Coffey, Mark Stuart and Glen Gulutzan.

"Defensively, we've been very happy with the commitments on just the small little details," the bench boss said. "And usually good defensive teams, a lot of it is just being able to do the things that don't take little talent to do – whether it's just stopping on pucks, winning a battle, getting the shooting lane back, checking hard – all those little things [matter]. The guys have bought in and they've been doing a heck of a job doing that.

"With the team that we have, we want to encourage our guys to make plays. And occasionally as a coaching staff, we have to understand that there are going to be breakdowns and we've just got to do a better job of managing when to try and make those plays and when they're not there."