Saturday afternoon, the Edmonton Oilers were in Seattle to face off in a matinee matchup with the Kraken. Yet another important divisional matchup that could have major implications for the Oilers divisional seeding come playoff time, as a win (possibly briefly) put them in second place in the Pacific Division. Maybe only until the Vegas Golden Knights play later in the evening, that is.
A couple of superstars on the Oilers roster hit some significant markers, however.
Draisaitl hits 30 once again
Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring in the second period with his 30th goal of the season.
This marks the sixth consecutive time that Draisaitl has reached the 30-goal mark in a season. Currently, he is on pace for around 44 on the season. Will he get hot in the final 20 games and push his way to 50 for the third consecutive season?
Connor ‘Human Apple Tree’ McDavid
With an assist on Draisaitl’s 30th, Connor McDavid has tied Guy Lafleur for second all-time with his 15th point streak lasting 10 or more games, according to this tweet from before puck drop this afternoon.
Additionally, with his recent assists rampage, he became the fourth player in NHL history to record 20 or more assists in a 10-game point streak.
It seems that McDavid’s side quest this season is to hit 100 assists, a mark that only three others (Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Bobby Orr) have achieved in the history of the league.
Through the team’s first 58 games, McDavid has 73 assists (1.3 assists per game in his 56 games played). In the remaining 24 games, McDavid would need 27 assists, pacing down to just over 1.1 assists per game.
It is entirely within reach for McDavid to hit 100 assists in the 2023–24 season.
Playing for home ice advantage in the playoffs
At one point this season, the Oilers were 20 points behind the Golden Knights. With this game, the Oilers have passed Vegas and sit one point above them with two games in hand.
The miraculous comeback is not done yet as it seems every other week the Oilers keep it rolling and get closer and closer to a favourable playoff spot, now with home ice advantage in reach.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
Can’t talk about this win without mentioning skinner, he was a brick wall and the only goal to get by him was deflected in off of nurses hand…..
Skinner was crazy good in this game, Oilers breakdowns in the Dzone