The Oilers may have had some good fortune on their winning streak, but they’ve also been dominant. Since Dec. 20, Edmonton is tied for fourth in the NHL in goals per game (3.81), first in goals against (1.50), tied for sixth on the power play (26.2 percent), and first on the penalty kill (93.6 percent).
And despite not having played since Jan. 27 because of the All-Star break, Oilers captain Connor McDavid expects them to pick up right where they left off.
“It’s just exciting to be back,” McDavid said. “Anytime you play the first game back from a break, guys are usually ready to go, and they’re going to be ready to go, and I expect an entertaining game.”
Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo agreed.
“We know of the streak that they’re on, and it would be great to stop them,” he said. “That would be fun. I’m sure if we were in the same situation they would be saying the same thing. But it’s not a huge focus for us because they’ve obviously fought their way back in the standings, and now it’s an important game for the standings more than anything. Sure it would be great to stop them, it’s two good teams going at it, but for us the focal point is two teams playing great, and you want to push ahead of them.”
That the Oilers (29-15-1) are only five points behind the Golden Knights (29-15-6), who have played five more games, for second in the Pacific Division is something that would’ve been hard to fathom two months ago.
But since Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft as coach on Nov. 12 following a 3-9-1 start, Edmonton has gone 26-6-0. Vegas, meanwhile, is 18-15-5 in its past 38 games since starting the season 11-0-1.
“Both teams know the situation we’re in, they’re in, so it’s going to be a good game,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. “We know what they’re going to try to do, but I think what’s made us so successful in the last little bit is that we didn’t talk about [the streak], we didn’t make too big of a fuss out of it, so we’re just going to continue down that path. It’s going to be a good test for us tomorrow, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
This article was originally published by a www.nhl.com . Read the Original article here. .