McDavid streak hits 18 games, but Edmonton Oilers hit emotional roadblock

You can’t win ’em all. Nor, if you’re the Edmonton Oilers, can you win three in a row.

Fans expecting to see a pair of milestones — Edmonton winning three games in a row for the first time this season and Connor McDavid extending his points streak to a career-high 18 games — went one-for-two Saturday in a gripping battle with their old playoff foe.

McDavid kept everyone on edge for 50 minutes before scoring the tying goal midway through the third period, but once again, for the eighth time, the Oilers failed to push through their emotional road block in a 4-3 shootout defeat to the L.A. Kings.

“He’s a once in a lifetime player and we’re obviously happy to have him on our side and happy to see the levels that he is able to get to,” Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen said of the captain. “It’s really remarkable to see it.”

Points in 18 games in a row is a pretty special accomplishment in this day and age. The 42 points he has during this run is more than 529 players (who played 18 or more games) had all of last season. But McDavid was far more interested in Edmonton getting three wins in a row. You could tell it in his short, terse, post-game interview.

“I just want to play good hockey, that’s all, and help this team win games,” he said. “We’ve been winning games, but we’ve got to find a way to win a couple more.”

A couple in a row is as good as the Oilers been able to get this year. Going 0-for-8 in this department is not the end of the world, the Oilers are still winning more than they’re losing and they’re occupying a Pacific Division playoff spot, but with the standings tightening up and teams around them starting to put together runs, they understand they need to pick up the pace.

“You want to win every game, especially against these guys being in the same division,” said Kasperi Kapanen. “We all knew it was a big match tonight. This one stings a little bit.”

The Oilers 3-3-1 since the Christmas break.

“Good teams are able to put together long streaks and good teams also eliminate long losing streaks,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch, whose club has lost three in a row three times. “We haven’t really had either one of them. I guess we’re about average. We’d like to put together some wins. The teams in our division have kind of been hot and cold. Right now, they’re trending the right way, starting to win more games, so we’re going to have to put together more than two wins at a time.”

A Grand Occasion

The Oilers honoured Leon Draisaitl in a pre-game ceremony for his 1,000th point and Draisaitl, as he almost always does, rose to the moment, scoring Edmonton’s first two goals.

“I think we all knew was going to score tonight, right?,” said Kapanen. “He’s had such an amazing career thus far, and he’s going to keep on scoring. Whenever you can get the puck to him that close to the net, it usually has a good chance of going in.”

“It was a fun night for him, an exciting night,” said McDavid. “A special night for him, celebrating his 1,000 points and having his family in town.”

Three-Headed Monster

Knoblauch said Saturday that they expect Tristan Jarry to ready for action this week, meaning something will have to give on the goaltending front with Connor Ingram and Calvin Pickard. One of them will have to go, but the coach isn’t giving out any clues. Ingram can still go down without having to clear waivers, which might play a role in the decision.

“Too soon to say anything,” said Knoblauch. “We expect Jarry to play sometime this upcoming week. We’ll make a decision then.”

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com