Calgary Flames' Connor Zary falls onto Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner during second period NHL hockey action in Calgary, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Larry MacDougalLarry MacDougal/The Canadian Press
The Edmonton Oilers keep winning and rewriting record books.
Netminder Stuart Skinner made 26 saves on Saturday night to equal Grant Fuhr’s franchise record with his 10th consecutive win and Sam Gagner’s fluke goal was the game winner as the Oilers made it 13 straight victories with a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames.
It’s the longest win streak by a Canadian team in NHL history, passing the 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens, who won 12 in a row.
“I'll take it. Any time you can be the only team to do anything that’s positive, that’s always exciting. Good for our group,” said Edmonton captain Connor McDavid. “It’s not something we were paying too close attention to but obviously we want to keep going.”
Zach Hyman, who had an empty netter, recognizes the significance of what the Oilers are doing.
“When we did the 10-game streak, we eclipsed the Oilers’ ’80s teams, now it’s the old Montreal team,” said Hyman, who has 28 goals. ”When you’re in the moment you just go out there and play, but I’m sure it'll be something cool to look back on.”
That’s also nine consecutive road wins shattering the old franchise record of eight set in 1986-87.
Skinner improves to 17-2-0 in his last 19 starts.
“Just try to keep on playing the game and keep on winning games,” said Skinner, who is 21-9-1 on the season. “We’re still here to battle and grind and make our way up the leaderboard.”
Ryan McLeod also scored for Edmonton (26-15-1).
“Lots of things are going well,” said McDavid, whose 12-game scoring streak (5-13-18) ended. “Stu’s giving us a chance every night. So is (Calvin Pickard) when he’s in there. All six D-men are playing really, really solid, battling really hard at the net. I think our PK has been fantastic.”
Edmonton has held its opponent to two or fewer goals in each of its last 11 games.
“That’s kind of how we want to play and those are normally the teams that do some good damage in the playoffs, too,” said Skinner.
MacKenzie Weegar had the lone goal for Calgary (21-20-5), which has dropped consecutive games after a four-game winning streak. Nazem Kadri’s eight-game scoring streak (6-5-11) was snapped.
“I thought there would have been a little bit more pride there from us,” said Weegar. “It’s a big game, they’re coming into our territory, our city, I thought we would have a little bit more juice there.”
Dan Vladar, who falls to 7-7-2, was excellent in net for the Flames, making 30 stops.
He was really sharp early making high calibre stops off Warren Foegele, McDavid, and Connor Brown as Edmonton could have blown the game open early.
“We got out-competed, awareness was limited. There wasn’t much urgency in that first period,'” said Weegar. “Vladdy stood on his head. … Battle of Alberta, there wasn’t much of a battle tonight from us.”
Deadlocked at 1-1 after 40 minutes, Edmonton took the lead for good on Gagner’s goal 1:39 into the third.
From below the goal line near the corner, Gagner’s attempt to centre the puck to Dylan Holloway in the slot deflected off the skate of Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson and went on net instead where it caught the top of the trapper of an unsuspecting Vladar and fluttered into the net.
“Just a bad bounce. It’s frustrating for me,” said Vladar.
Ryan Huska felt for his goaltender on this night.
“That’s the part that stings a little bit. That’s a tough one. Vladdy made a lot of great saves tonight,” said the Flames coach. “Sometimes, when a team is rolling the way they are, you’re gonna get bounces like that. Unfortunately, that one went against us tonight.”
In the first game between the provincial rivals since the Heritage Classic in Edmonton, both teams wore their same retro look from that outdoor game.
Edmonton finally broke through at 15:03 of the first when McLeod got in alone and neatly tucked a shot inside the near goalpost.
The Flames tied it 1-1 at 1:58 of the second when Blake Coleman setup Weegar on a 3-on-1.
“We weren’t as crisp offensively with the puck, we were giving pucks away, we weren’t hard enough in the o-zone, hard enough in one-on-one battles. There’s no secret recipe, we just didn’t have that swagger,” said Coleman.
With Thursday’s injury to Martin Pospisil (upper body), Calgary called up 21-year-old Matt Coronato from the AHL Calgary Wranglers. The 2021 first-rounder opened the season with the Flames before being sent down after 10 games. He had 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 27 games with the Wranglers. Coronato took Pospisil’s spot at right wing on a line with Nazem Kadri and fellow rookie Connor Zary.
Edmonton welcomed back Dylan Holloway, who had been out since Nov. 13 due to a knee injury. He had four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in four games in Bakersfield (AHL) before being recalled. James Hamblin was sent down to make room. Holloway centred a line with Sam Gagner and Connor Brown.
Making his NHL debut was 6-foot-8 RW Adam Klapka, who is the tallest player in Flames franchise history, a distinction that had belonged to 6-foot-7 D Chris Breen, who played nine games for Calgary in 2013-14. The 23-year-old Czech took the fourth-line spot of Dillon Dube (illness).