The definition of a winning streak, as per the iconic baseball movie “Major League,” is winning at least three consecutive games. To that end, the Edmonton Oilers hadn’t had a winning streak yet during the 2025–26 season. They got their 10th opportunity of the season last night against the San Jose Sharks.
The Sharks this year aren’t the sad-sack Sharks of previous years, and they proved that early on. A minute and thirty-five seconds into the game, it was 2–0 San Jose. By the end of the first, it was 3–0 visitors.
But then, a la the Buffalo game, the Oilers rallied in the third period. 1:35 was all they needed to get their first goal, and then they scored twice with the goalie pulled to send it into overtime. Zach Hyman ended the dramatic rally then and there to complete the comeback.
Oilers win 4–3 in OT.
It took ten tries over the course of four months, and it took an exorcism of sorts on try number 10. But we finally arrived at the first true winning streak of the 2025–26 season. What a glorious feeling, eh? Here’s the game story.
Starts to games are still a major issue for the Oilers
Last week, the Pittsburgh Penguins jumped out to an early multi-goal lead on the Oilers, and it was no fun. The game before, the Oilers were lulled to sleep in the first period, and that was also no fun. The hope was that a lesson would have been learned, that you gotta be ready to play from the drop of the puck.
Class begins, and the teacher is checking everyone’s attendance. Guess who has failed to show up on time? Winner winner chicken dinner, that would be the Oilers, who can’t stop turning the puck over, then get so focused on covering the duo of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, that they forget Collin Graf exists.
Barely a minute later, the puck is turned over at centre ice. Ty Emberson is the guilty party, which is already concerning because he’s a defenceman. His partner, Jake Walman, runs and hides in his team’s bench, meaning former Vancouver Canuck Adam Gaudette has a shootout-style breakaway. Somewhere, Sergei Kostitsyn smiled at that Walman line change.
Later on in the period, a rush chance is generated by the Sharks, and Michael Misa gets the shot off. Ingram makes the save, and Evan Bouchard is covering his man, as he should be. One problem, though- the puck bounces right toward Bouchard, and he knocks it into his own net.
Ugly, ugly first period. The Oilers finished it ahead in the shots-on-goal category, but the defence didn’t match that offensive stat. That was a bad enough first period that Bob Stauffer, during the first intermission, got as close to a Steve Dangle rant as this observer has ever seen him get. And he was fully justified—that was nowhere near good enough.
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Not only did they come back, but this time they finished the rally
Nothing of note happened in the second period, which was already an improvement on the first period. But the Oilers were still down 3–0 at the end of it, and seemingly en route to a 10th straight loss when on the verge of a winning streak. It would take something miraculous for these Oilers to come back from this deficit.
Leon Draisaitl got the first goal of the eventual rally by doing something this team doesn’t do enough of. The Oilers need far more greasy, crash-the-net goals if they’re to have any sort of success. This goal very much falls into that category, as Draisaitl waited in close for a juicy rebound.
Following a San Jose icing call, the Oilers went for the goalie pull a bit early, and it paid off within a minute. Connor McDavid, like Graf before him, was given all the space he needed for a perfect shot. Draisaitl, to nobody’s surprise except the Sharks’, threaded the needle perfectly, and McDavid wired it home through traffic.
Bouchard got the game-tying goal in the final minute with help from a superb zone keep from Mattias Ekholm. From matching hat-tricks, to matching efforts on the equalizer. The former Boston Bruins announcer, Jack Edwards, used the term “hearts of lions” for moments like these. And boy oh boy, do Bouchard and Ekholm have those especially, these days.
And then, unlike the Buffalo game, Edmonton finished off this rally. After a shift in which McDavid, Draisaitl, and Bouchard tormented the Sharks, Hyman jumped on and potted the winner. What a cathartic feeling to see this one go in.
We survived this game. Not sure how, but it has been done. Three wins in a row. Hallelujah.
What the players said about the comeback
Kasperi Kapanen summarized things perfectly, opening with a tongue-in-cheek expression that the late, great Edmonton Journal writer Bruce McCurdy made popular: “Never in doubt.” He then continued, “Didn’t start the way we wanted to, but that’s hockey sometimes—you start late, but I thought as the game went on, we were playing better.”
Connor Ingram’s mentality, which worked the rest of the way after a rough opening five shots, was simple. “Make the next save. You can’t do anything about it, can’t get those ones back, so you gotta move on.” He stopped the last 15 shots he faced, giving his team a chance to win.
And Zach Hyman, when asked about how it felt to secure the winning streak, had this to say. “It was not a great game from us, obviously, so it was gonna take an ugly one to get over the hump there. Crazy stat I guess, but we won three in a row, so we can stop talking about it.”
At some point we have to realize the goalies aren’t Superman
Something has gotta give at some point. Since Mike Smith retired, two goalies have been chased out of town, including a homegrown talent. And a third will be gone in 2026 as well. That homegrown talent wasn’t even the main problem with the team this year, yet still took the fall.
This game reinforces the point that, at some point, we have to stop consistently blaming the goalies. Take another look at the three goals against. Only on the first one could Ingram maybe try harder for a save, but Graf should not be more wide-open than Churchill Square. The other two are a breakaway, and Bouchard knocking one past his own goalie.
Yes, 17 saves on 20 shots isn’t a great stat line; it’s an .850 save percentage. But when some of the goals going in are ones not even prime Dominik Hasek or Martin Brodeur would stop? Step back from the keyboard, go outside, touch the snow, and then evaluate the whole scene around the goal. Enough, to anyone who thinks the Sharks being spotted three goals was Ingram’s fault.
Keep the momentum going, and don’t forget what happened before
So one challenge is out of the way, with the winning streak being achieved. But now, another one lies ahead. And there could be storylines abound for this Hockey Night In Canada affair.
The Minnesota Wild have taken the first two games they’ve played against the Oilers this season. The last time they came up to Rogers Place, Jesper Wallstedt happened. Wallstedt may well get another start here, all while he’s rumoured to be a trade piece, including in talks with Edmonton somehow. Things like that are what makes it feel like we live in a simulation.
8 PM puck drop at Rogers Place. Remember that 1–0 loss, boys, and use the momentum you have here to exact some revenge. You’re tied atop the division with Vegas; a win here is critical.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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