Oilers winning streak on the verge of breaking franchise record
The Edmonton Oilers seven-game winning streak is reaching historic levels for the franchise.
This streak started on November 24 in a 5-0 victory over the Washington Capitals and was most recently extended following Sunday afternoon’s 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils.
In the Oilers’ 44-year history, the team has only had a winning streak of seven or more games 11 times. This is just two games off of the team’s franchise record for their longest winning streak, which is nine games. 
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Surprisingly, the two times that the Oilers have gone on those nine-game streaks neither occurred during the dynasty years of the 1980s. Instead, the Wayne Gretzky-era Oilers put together three separate eight-game winning streaks during the 1983-84 season, which is arguably even more impressive.
The first time that Edmonton was able to string together nine consecutive wins came during the 2000-01 season. The Oilers made the playoffs that year with a 39-28-12 record and were eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs. It’s not the type of season you would expect a franchise-record winning streak to be achieved.
The Oilers then matched that benchmark at the end of last season, rattling off nine straight wins ahead of the playoffs only to lose to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.
With Edmonton’s current streak sitting at seven games, there is a very real possibility that they could string together nine straight wins for the second consecutive season. This time, however, it would be more out of necessity than anything, as the Oilers are continuing to dig themselves out of one of the worst starts to a season in franchise history.
So, who are the teams that stand in Edmonton’s way of making history? Well, the first team in their way will be the Connor Bedard and the 31st-ranked Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
Logic would dictate that this should be a slam dunk for the Oilers to extend their streak to eight, but anybody who watches hockey knows that games expected to be a cake-walk are usually the most dangerous for teams in Edmonton’s position.
If the Oilers can get past the Blackhawks, it will be a pair of Florida teams trying to bust the streak. The Tampa Bay Lightning are at Rogers Place on Thursday night. Edmonton previously lost to the Lightning 6-4 back on November 18 and will be looking for revenge on home ice.
An Oilers win would set the stage for a potentially historic game against the Florida Panthers on Saturday, who also beat the Oilers last month by a score of 5-3.
Oilers fans have become accustomed to the team underperforming around the holiday season. It seems like the team is always a bit too preoccupied with getting to the scheduled break a bit quicker than they should.
That doesn’t appear to be the case this year, and fans might instead be surprised with a new franchise record sitting under the tree.
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