If I had a nickel for every time the Edmonton Oilers had blown a two-game streak, I’d have 45 cents, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that they’ve blown that many opportunities, and frankly that money would go a long way to getting my life back on track.
For those of you that aren’t huge on numbers that’s nine opportunities, nine times that the Oilers won two games in a row without extending the win streak. This may be hard to believe, but the Oilers have never won three games in a row this season.
The Oilers longest streak last year was only five games, but the year before that they went on that legendary 16-game win streak, stretching from December 21 all the way till January 27.
The Oilers record this year
Here are some stats for the Oilers in their third game on a two-game streak:
| Score | CF% | SF% | xGF% | SH% | SV% |
| Oilers 2, Islanders 4 | 52.07 | 56.9 | 49.49 | 6.06 | .840 |
| Oilers 2, Kraken 3 | 58.2 | 58.93 | 49.02 | 6.06 | .869 |
| Oilers 4, Blue Jackets 5 | 55.17 | 53.7 | 42.22 | 13.79 | .800 |
| Oilers 3, Sabres 4 | 52.25 | 51.72 | 57.78 | 10 | .857 |
| Oilers 1, Canadiens 4 | 53.77 | 50.91 | 51.16 | 3.57 | .852 |
| Oilers 2, Wild 5 | 56.67 | 44.78 | 47.24 | 6.67 | .865 |
| Oilers 2, Flames 3 | 52.27 | 49.21 | 49.82 | 6.45 | .906 |
| Oilers 3, Kings 4 | 44.07 | 44.44 | 49.32 | 12.5 | .900 |
| Oilers 1, Devils 2 | 54.46 | 57.5 | 54.6 | 6.25 | .926 |
Truth be told, after looking at all the in depth stats, I can’t see any pattern. Earlier in the season it looks like the Oilers were losing games that they should have won, games that they were generally controlling, getting more shots, but just coming up short.
More recently the games they have lost they deserve to be lose. The Minnesota, Calgary, and Los Angeles games they were outshot. Interestingly enough, when they started getting better goaltending, they still haven’t been able to steal that third win.
It’s difficult to explain why this might be happening. One of the more noticeable patterns in these games is that six of the nine losses were away games. On top of that eight of the nine losses came immediately after travelling, though only two of these games are back-to-backs. So maybe it’s as simple as a difficult travelling schedule. This season is constrained due to the long Olympic break so the travel and the tighter schedule could be tiring everyone out.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter, except to frustrate Edmonton fans. The Oilers are 27–19–8 on the season and only one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first in the division.
Can Edmonton finally do it?
The Oilers will have a chance to break this curse tonight at home against the youthful San Jose Sharks, who are battling it out for the second wild card spot and are also on a two-game heater. I think this un-streaky streak is just a matter of bad luck and I’m going to take my 45 cents and put it all on the Oilers to win tonight.
Let me know if you have any thoughts on why the Oilers can’t get over that three game hump? Let me know in the comments!
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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