Oilers are NHL's hottest team as winning streak reaches 16 games

There is not a better team in the NHL right now than the Edmonton Oilers and they continued to show that on Saturday afternoon with a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators.

Not only did that win come over a potential playoff team, it also extended the Oilers' winning streak to 16 consecutive games as the team continues to climb the Western Conference standings.

It also puts Edmonton just one win short of tying the NHL record for longest winning streak at 17 games. That record was set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 2023-24 season has been a tale of two teams for the Oilers. The first was their start under former head coach Jay Woodcroft in which they went just 3-9-1 and were one of the most disappointing teams in hockey. The second has been the team they have been under new head coach Kris Knoblauch which is now 26-6-0 after Saturday's win.

While it would be easy to point to the coaching change as the turning point, it was actually a little deeper than that. Even when they were losing early in the year the Oilers were still doing a lot of things right. They were controlling the pace of games by out-shooting and out-chancing their opponents, and there were pretty clear signs they were playing better than their record indicated. The problem was that they were not getting quality goaltending from Jack Campbell, last year's big free-agent signing. As soon as they stopped playing Campbell and turned the net over to Stuart Skinner the winning started to return.

New backup Calvin Pickard has also been an upgrade over what they were getting from Campbell. 

The Oilers are so good offensively that they do not really need a goalie that steals them games. They just need somebody that doesn't lose them games. Campbell was losing them games. Skinner and Pickard are not.

Superstar forward Connor McDavid is also playing at an MVP level this season – again – and is helping to carry the offense. 

The Oilers will have a chance to tie the winning streak record after the All-Star break on Feb. 6 when they play the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.