Oilers pumping on all cylinders during team record 11-game winning streak

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers have won a team record 11 straight games, but their biggest source of pride appears to be coming from how they have done it.

“I think it’s just a maturity level that we’re reaching that obviously needs to continue to develop and get better,” center Leon Draisaitl said following a 4-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Rogers Place on Tuesday. “If you do it a couple of times and you win a couple of games late, you build trust in that and you build that level of comfort in knowing there’s no rush to open it up to try and score in the first minute of the third period to tie it up.”

Edmonton battled back from down 2-0 in the second period, with Draisaitl making it a one-goal game at 15:41 of the second before forwards Derek Ryan, center Ryan McLeod and defenseman Evan Bouchard each scored in the third.

“I thought it was a competitive, good hockey game," Draisaitl said. "It’s a good team over there, lots of skill and they defend really well actually for how much skill they have. Obviously we showed some composure again and stuck with it, so it’s another huge win for us.”

Composure seemed to be lacking early in the season when Edmonton started 2-9-1 and found itself tied for 32nd in the NHL standings Nov. 9.

A coaching change to Kris Knoblauch from Jay Woodcroft three days later brought a newfound confidence and the Oilers are now 24-15-1, including 19-3-0 since Nov. 24, the best in the NHL during that span.

Prior to the winning streak, Edmonton was 13-15-1, seven points out of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Now they hold the first wild card in the West, are one point behind the Los Angeles Kings for third in the Pacific Division and six behind the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights for second with four games in hand.

“It feels great, winning always feels great, but we’ve worked extremely hard to put ourselves back into it,” Draisaitl said. “By no means are we anywhere where we can let off the gas. That’s something that we need to be aware of. That’s something that we did a great job of that tonight and we’re not even halfway through the season. There’s lots of hockey left to be played.”

The Oilers are playing a patient game, relying on their structure and strong defensive play to grind out victories of late.

Edmonton did enough to get past the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 in the opener of a three-game road trip Jan. 9, to extend the winning streak to eight games. The Oilers won 3-2 in overtime at the Detroit Red Wings two nights later for their ninth consecutive win, tying the longest streak in their history, then broke it with a 2-1 overtime victory at the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

“It’s not easy coming from behind, especially against a good team like the Maple Leafs," Knoblauch said, "but I’ve said this many times, we don’t get frustrated. We stick with the game plan, we don’t have to alter anything drastically, we don’t have to cheat on offense, we just have to work hard and make the little plays.

“Overall, I think we should have more goals, but that doesn’t always work out; their goaltender plays well, we don’t get the breaks, whatever it is. But we’ve showed it many times, we just stick with it, and we’ve come through lately and we have to continue to do that.”

Edmonton’s play during the streak has been a far contrast from early in the season, when all aspects of its game seemed to struggle, which lead to a coaching change Nov. 12, with Knoblauch and assistant Paul Coffey replacing Jay Woodcroft and assistant Dave Manson.

The Oilers are 21-6-0 under Knoblauch after opening the season 3-9-1 under Woodcroft, and are getting contributions throughout the lineup. At the same time, Stuart Skinner has solidified the No. 1 goalie spot with Calvin Pickard proving to be a reliable backup.

“We have four solid lines that have been working,” Skinner said. “Obviously we have some top dogs, but so much credit should be going to the guys on the third and fourth lines. They keep the puck out of the net, they defend hard, they get the puck in deep and they’re rolling, you can tell that they’re feeling it and that’s massive for any team.”

McLeod has found his game after he had two assists in his first 16 games of the season. The 24-year-old had a goal and assist against Toronto to give him 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past 10 games.

“I think we are building something great,” McLeod said. “I think we (the bottom six) are contributing in a lot of ways other than the score sheet. We are shutting down a lot of guys and doing amazing things on the penalty kill right now and creating a lot of energy. The more we can do that, I think the more success we will have in the top six and as a team.”

Edmonton has not lost since a 3-1 defeat at the New York Islanders on Dec. 19. They host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SN1, ROOT-NW) looking to extend the winning streak to 12 games. With each victory, the Oilers are making more history.

“We’re enjoying it, absolutely,” Knoblauch said. “We’d be ignorant to say it’s not on our minds, and it’s not something we feel good about. But I think what’s more important is when we look at the standings, we’re in the playoff picture right now, we have a wild card and see teams right behind us, and if we take a couple of games off, we’re going to be out of the playoff picture again.

“But then we’re also looking at teams above us, we’re within striking distance and we can pass those guys. The streak is nice, but the standings is more important.”