A dozen wins in a row. The Edmonton Oilers’ win streak has hit the incredible 12-game mark. The team was sitting at 13–15–1, 13th in the West, and 27th in the league on December 20, 2023. With the Christmas break being a strong predictor of playoff chances, the Oilers sitting on the outside looked increasingly worrisome.
Now four weeks later, the Oilers are instead 25–15–1. The loss counter has been frozen for nearly an entire month. Being 13th in the West transformed into being sixth in the Conference, 14th in the league, and most importantly, third in the Pacific Division.
Yes, the win streak not only got the Oilers into a playoff spot, but they also jumped past both the second and first wild card spots to find themselves in a divisional seed.
The 12-game win streak is exceedingly rare
The last time a team reached this marker of 12 wins in a row was all the way back in 2016–17. Two teams actually did it in the same season. The Minnesota Wild won 12 straight games between December 4, 2016, and December 29, 2016, and the Columbus Blue Jackets more impressively won 16 straight between November 29, 2016, and January 3, 2017.
Most teams have never posted double-digit win streaks, and some might never do so. Throughout the existence of the NHL, only 64 win streaks of at least 10 games or more have been reached by any team. Yet here the Oilers are, posting 12 wins in a row. Bump it threshold up to 12-game win streaks and it’s shocking that fewer than 20 teams have reached this mark in the entire history of the NHL. The 2023–24 Oilers become the 19th team in league history to reach this milestone.
The longest win streak in NHL history of 17 was recorded by the juggernaut 1992–93 Pittsburgh Penguins, but the second longest streak was by the 16-gamer from the 2016–17 Columbus Blue Jackets. Beyond that, two teams have won 15 in a row, two more have won 14, five have won 13, and eight have won 12—this year’s Oilers being one of those eight.
Fine company for Edmonton
A lengthy win streak in the regular season is always nice, and to set not just franchise but NHL history along the way is even better. However, the ultimate goal will always be the playoffs and the quest for the Stanley Cup. The recent play of the Oilers has shown results that aren’t just flukes. Many of these games have been dominant and the Oilers are looking like the Cup favourites many had predicted them to be before the regular season started.
Extending this win streak for as long as they can is a huge accomplishment that is definitely celebrated, but getting the team back into the playoffs is even better.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
3 Comments