When the Edmonton Oilers try to tie the NHL record for longest winning streak Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, there’ll be an interested observer some 2,500 miles away. That would be New York Rangers coach Peter Laviolette.
One of the most successful coaches in the NHL, Laviolette has seen quite a bit since first standing behind the bench with the New York Islanders back in 2001. But he admitted at NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto that Edmonton’s epic 16-game winning streak has really caught his attention.
“That’s about as difficult as it gets. They’re certainly on a roll right now,” Laviolette said. “I think there’s always a story that pops up somewhere in sports where there’s a team that’s on a roll or a player that’s on a roll with just a certain amount of home runs or a certain amount of goals, or whatever it might be. There’s always a story that pops up that catches you off guard and gets you to think about how difficult it is to do that.
“To win 16 games in a row is an incredible achievement.”
Related: Why Jets are ‘absolutely thrilled’ to add Sean Monahan ahead of NHL trade deadline
Oilers can tied NHL record for longest winning streak with victory against Golden Knights
With a win against the Stanley Cup champs, the Oilers would tie the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins, who won 17 straight near the end of that season. Only one other NHL team has won as many games in a row as the Oilers. The 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets also won 16 consecutive games.
“We’re not talking about it in (the dressing room),” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said Monday. “I think for us it’s just about the day to day, stay focused on what’s in front of us. And what’s in front of us is a very good Vegas team, one that’s ahead of us in the standings and one that we would like to catch.”
Edmonton’s other All-Star forward, Leon Draisaitl, also downplayed the chance to tie the record Tuesday.
“What’s made us successful over this last little bit is that we didn’t talk about it or make too big a fuss about it,” Draisaitl explained. “So, we’re just going to continue down that path.”
The Oilers (29-15-1) are five points behind the Golden Knights (29-15-6) for second in the Pacific Division and have five games in hand. That makes this game a crucial one, beyond the winning streak ramifications.
As for Laviolette, he had an impressive achievement Monday night in New York. When the Rangers rallied for a 2-1 overtime victory against the Colorado Avalanche, Laviolette passed Hockey Hall of Famer Al Arbour for seventh all-time in wins by an NHL coach.
“An exciting, persistent win by our guys,” said Laviolette, who’s coached 1,480 NHL games with the Rangers, Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes and Islanders.
Tuesday, Laviolette will be less a coach and more a fan as he takes in the Oilers quest for history.