EDMONTON, Alberta (news agencies) — Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists and the Edmonton Oilers won their 16th straight game to move within one of tying the NHL record, beating the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Saturday.
Edmonton will attempt to tie the record set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins when it returns from the All-Star break to play at Vegas on Feb. 6. The Oilers matched the 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets for the second-longest streak.
“It’s exciting, obviously it’s a great run, obviously the goalies have played great,” McDavid said. “This past week wasn’t our best hockey and we found a way to get three wins, which is a great sign. We’ve gotten great goaltending, the back end has been good, the kill has been amazing, those are all good things.”
Leon Draisaitl each had a goal and two assists, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman also scored and Stuart Skinner made 28 saves to help Edmonton improve to 29-15-1. The Oilers are 24-3-0 in their last 27 and have a franchise-record streak of 14 games without allowing more than two goals.
“It’s special,” Draisaitl said. “It takes a lot of good efforts and a lot of good games to get to that number. We have been a bit sloppy the last three games but have obviously had some individual performances that have gotten us the wins. You need that sometimes too. It’s been a great stretch for us.”
Colton Sissons scored for Nashville. The Predators who have lost three of four.
“I thought we outplayed them, but unfortunately it doesn’t matter when you don’t get two points,” Sissons said. “It still hurts.”
Edmonton opened the scoring on a power play at 7:55 of the first period. Nugent-Hopkins slid into the high slot and took a feed from Draisaitl before unleashing a quick wrist shot that beat goalie Kevin Lankinen for his 12th goal of the season.
The Oilers’ power play came through again with 8:21 left in the second. McDavid sent it across to Draisaitl for a one-timer and his 23rd. The goal was Draisaitl’s 800th career point, making him the fourth-fastest player to reach the milestone, doing so in 683 games.
McDavid made it 3-0 at 9:12 of the third. He swung behind the net and banked the puck off of Lankinen’s backside from behind the goal line for his 20th.
Sissons ended Skinner’s shutout bid with 6:33 during a scramble in front of the net, the first goal allowed by Edmonton in 158 minutes. Skinner is 19-2 in his last 21 starts.
“It’s been a lot of fun being able to be on the back end of these things,” Skinner said. “We did everything we could to keep the puck out of our net.”
Hyman capped the scoring with an empty-netter for his 30th of the season.
Predators: At Ottawa on Monday night.
Oilers: At Vegas on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
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