Oilers goalie Mike Smith can net himself two franchise records tonight

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Smith is on the verge of Edmonton Oilers history.

The 40-year-old stopper has posted back-to-back blankings, and is currently riding a shutout streak of exactly 133 consecutive minutes — the 13th-longest streak in Edmonton history.

As good as that run has been, that in itself isn’t all that jaw-dropping. But what comes next could be, should Smith manage to tack on another clean sheet when the Oilers host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.

He is just 60 minutes from owning Edmonton’s all-time record established by Tommy Salo in 2000-01.

“I’ve said it numerous times,” Smith said postgame Saturday. “At this time of the season you want to be at the top of your game and be a big reason why you’re heading to the playoffs and playing your best games to give the team the best chance to win.

“That’s all I’ve been focused on.”

Whether he knows it or not, Smith is chasing history.

Salo ran his shutout stretch to 192:53 in posting consecutive shutouts — sandwiched by a pair of other solid efforts, to shatter Curtis Joseph’s previous mark of 167:25. In fact, Salo was one save shy of becoming the first Oilers goaltender in franchise history to run back-to-back-to-back shutouts in his run, officially logged from March 2-11, 2001.

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Should Smith manage to shut out the Stars, he’d earn the honour and steal Salo’s shutout mark in the process.

He has, after all, stopped all 69 shots faced across his past two starts.

Smith made 30 saves in a 4-0 win against the Nashville Predators on April 14 and doubled down with a 39-save performance in another 4-0 effort against the Vegas Golden Knights on April 16. He was named the second star of the game against Nashville and took home top honours against Vegas.

The latter added another distinction to the resume, too.

At 40 years and 25 days, Smith joined five other stoppers in League history to record consecutive shutouts at age 40 or older, joining Johnny Bower (twice), Dominik Hasek (twice), Martin Brodeur, George Hainsworth, and Dwayne Roloson.

The turnaround has been sharp with Smith.

He’d been plagued by injury and inconsistency throughout much of the season, and those were certainly reflected in his numbers. Prior to March 6, Smith posted a 5-8-1 record with a bloated 3.57 goals-against average and .891 save percentage.

Smith’s splits since have been razor-sharp.

In his past 10 games, the veteran stopper has a 1.98 goals-against average and .940 save percentage, heating up down the stretch to help put Edmonton in a position to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this week.

“I think it was obviously a tough go for him,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. “Couldn’t stay healthy. Little nagging injuries that kept him out for a while. And then he got back on a stretch where we played really bad hockey. It doesn’t matter what goalie you have back there. It’s not going to matter. We’ve been better in front of him. He’s been amazing. So has [Mikko Koskinen]. The last couple months here, they’ve been huge. We’ve got a lot of trust in those two.”

There’s little doubt the Oilers will qualify for the playoffs as a result of Smith’s sudden exploits.

Should he keep up his play, there’s even less question about who starts for Game 1 when the postseason begins.

Shutout record or not.