The Edmonton Oilers will look to stretch their win streak to six games when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Edmonton defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday to open a four-game road trip.
Forward Leon Draisaitl scored twice in the win, while captain Connor McDavid and defenseman Evan Bouchard each picked up a pair of assists. The Oilers are 7-2-1 since mid-February and have won 12 of their last 13 one-goal games, dating to mid-November.
“I thought we had a lot of opportunities,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said after Tuesday’s win. “We played a good hockey team, and their goaltender made some great saves. Usually, after a game, even when you lose, you’re disappointed, but you’re thinking, ‘Oh, the process was good,’ and that’s kind of what I was thinking. And then we say we weren’t done yet.”
With the assists, McDavid extended his point streak to 12 games (two goals, 26 assists). With 99 points on the season, he is just shy of his fourth straight 100-point season. The 12 straight games with at least one helper is the fifth-longest assist streak among active players.
Forward Zach Hyman, who leads the Oilers with 42 goals, has 10 tallies over his last nine games.
Goaltender Stuart Skinner is 29-13-12 with a 2.60 goals against average and .906 save percentage in 45 games. The Oilers puck stopper is 2-1-1 with a 2.24 GAA and .923 save percentage in four career games against the Blue Jackets.
The Oilers, second in the Pacific Division, are 18-12-0 on the road and head to Columbus looking for a sweep of the season series. Edmonton defeated Columbus 4-1 on Jan. 23 — the only other meeting between the clubs this season.
On Wednesday, the Oilers added forwards Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick from the Anaheim Ducks in a three-team deal that also included the Tampa Bay Lightning. The availability of either player for Thursday has yet to be determined.
Columbus enters Thursday’s contest following a 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
“We were in a position to win this game,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said. “We played hard, we competed. That’s why it’s frustrating because this one, I really feel like we should’ve won that game.”
The Blue Jackets, last in the Metropolitan Division, are 5-5-0 over their last 10 games and 11-16-4 on home ice.
Captain Boone Jenner leads the Jackets with 19 goals in 47 games, while forward Johnny Gaudreau, who has a team-leading 45 points in 62 games, has points in three straight.
“I thought we had a slow start in the first (against Pittsburgh), but we battled back in the second, tied the game up,” Gaudreau said. “They found a way to take a 3-2 lead, tied it up again. Kind of just ran out of gas toward the end of the third there. But thought we had a good effort other than the first.”
Forward Alexander Nylander, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in February, has four goals and six points in six games since joining Columbus.
Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins is 12-13-7 with a 3.21 GAA and .904 save percentage in 35 games. In four career appearances against the Oilers, Merzlikins is 1-2-0 with a 3.08 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
