Oilers have better record now than this time last season
With all the winning that the Edmonton Oilers have been doing lately, it is easy to forget just how bad things were for this team at the beginning of the season.
On November 20, the Oilers were sitting in 30th place with just 11 points and a 5-11-1 record. The season was on the verge of collapse and the fanbase was anything but content with the way things were going.
Since then, the team has gone on an incredible streak, winning 14 of their next 18 games to pull themselves up to 39 points. This is just a single point behind the Arizona Coyotes for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference and just six points behind the LA Kings for third place in the Pacific Division.
The 19-15-1 record that the Oilers currently have is actually better than the record the team has had through 35 games in both of the previous seasons.
The #Oilers currently have a 19-15-1 record and 39 points.
Despite a terrible start to the year, this is actually a better record through 35 games over the last two seasons:
2022/23: 18-15-2, 38 pts
2021/22: 18-15-2, 38 pts
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) January 3, 2024
It’s quite a shocking turn of events considering just how destitute things seemed to be for the team not even two months ago. Yet, the team has received a boost from new head coach Kris Knoblauch who has been able to find the right combination of players in the top six.
The rookie NHL head coach assembled what might be the most dangerous line in hockey with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Connor McDavid-Zach Hyman and has seemingly solved the second-line puzzle with Ryan McLeod-Leon Draisaitl-Warren Foegele putting up torrid numbers of late.
Goaltending was a huge point of conversation during Edmonton’s struggles and while that is still an issue that isn’t completely solved, the team has been getting much better performances from their duo of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.
Since November 20, Skinner is second among NHL goaltenders with 11 wins and has a .914 save percentage during that span. The Oilers will need to find a better running mate for Skinner down the stretch, but Pickard has been serviceable for the team of late.
Edmonton now has a chance to significantly improve their record. Nine of the Oilers’ next 12 games are against non-playoff teams. Four of those 12 games are also against divisional rivals.
The Oilers have dug themselves out of that early season hole. Now the mission is to see how much higher they can climb in the standings.