EDMONTON OILERS NOTES:
QUICK FACTS
• Thursday’s game will mark Edmonton’s second of three games against the Sharks this season and the second of two games in San Jose. The next time these teams meet is on April 15th in Edmonton. • The last time these teams met was on November 9th in San Jose, where the Sharks won 3-2. • Connor McDavid leads the Oilers with 39 career points (16G, 23A) against the Sharks. Sam Gagner leads the Oilers with 46 career games against San Jose.
UNDER KNOBLAUCH
Kris Knoblauch joined the Oilers as Head Coach on Nov. 13 vs. NYI and recorded his first win in his first game. Under Knoblauch the Oilers are 12-6-0, rank 1st in the NHL in goals for per game (4.00), 5 th in power play (28.1) and 8 th in penalty kill (84.8).
WINNING STREAK
The Oilers posted an 8-game winning streak, spanning from Nov. 24 – Dec. 12.
Winning Streak Stats:
Goals/Game – 4.75
Goals Against/Game – 1.63
Goal Differential +25
PP% 44.0
PK% 96.2
GOALS BY PERIOD
The Oilers have recorded 43, T-1 st period goals on the season which ranks 1 st in the NHL and In 2022-23, the Oilers ranked 1st in the NHL in goals for in the first period (92).
BIG TIME BOUCHARD
Evan Bouchard recorded a 13-game point streak from Nov. 15 – Dec. 14, accumulating 20 points (5G, 14A) in that span. He ranks 5 th in the NHL in points among defencemen (32). His 16 power play points and four power play goals rank T-1 st among NHL defencemen. His 13-game point streak was the 2nd longest point streak by a defenceman in Oilers history. Paul Coffey has the longest point streak by an Oilers/NHL defenceman at 28 games, set in 1985-86 where he recorded 55 points in that span.
SUPERSONIC SCORING
On Dec. 6 vs. CAR, the Oilers scored two goals in 41 seconds (McLeod and Ekholm), marking the second fastest two goals to start a game in franchise history. The only quicker outburst being on March 28th, 1982 vs. LAK, which came in 24 seconds (Messier and Lumley).
LAST 10 GAMES vs. SAN JOSE
Record: 8-2-0
GF: 43 GA: 24
2023-24 11/9/23 @ SJS 3-2 L
2022-23 4/13/23 @ EDM 5-2 W
2022-23 4/8/23 @ SJS 6-1 W
2022-23 3/20/23 @ EDM 5-4 W (OT)
2022-23 1/13/23 @ SJS 7-1 W
2021-22 4/28/22 @ EDM 5-4 W (OT)
2021-22 4/5/22 @ SJS 2-1 W (OT)
2021-22 3/24/22 @ EDM 5-2 W
2021-22 2/14/22 @ SJS 3-0 W
2019-20 2/6/20 @ EDM 6-3 L
SAN JOSE SHARKS NOTES:
HERT SO GOOD
Forward Tomáš Hertl is tied for fifth in the NHL with eight goals in December, the Czech forward most recently lighting the lamp in the first period of the Sharks’ final tilt before the holiday break, Dec. 23 at Vancouver. He earned NHL Second Star of the Week honors on Dec. 11 after posting six points (5g, 1a) in three games from Dec. 3-10, helping the Sharks to a 2-1-1 record in concluding a six-game road trip. Hertl leads the Sharks with 27 points (12g, 15a) on the year, paces the club in goals and is atop the roster with eight multi-point games on the campaign. His run of three goals on Dec. 5 followed by two on Dec. 7 represented just the second time in his career that he recorded consecutive multi-goal outings, last scoring six goals over two games in his second and third career contests. Hertl has 14 points (7g, 7a) in the past 14 games entering Dec. 23, dating back to consecutive two-assist efforts (Nov. 24 and 25), when he passed Owen Nolan for sixth on the Sharks’ all-time multi-point games list (110). Earlier this season he also passed Nolan (206) for sole possession of fifth on the Sharks’ all-time goals list and for sixth (Nolan – 451) on the team’s all-time points list. He is two game-winning goals from tying Jonathan Cheechoo (36) for fifth on the team’s all-time GWG list.
HERE’S GRANNY
Forward Mikael Granlund is tied for third in the NHL with 13 assists and is tied for seventh in the league with 16 points in December, most recently scoring a goal and adding a helper in the Dec. 23 game at Vancouver. Granlund, who has 23 points (4g, 19a) over the past 24 games, was named NHLPA Player of the Week on Friday (Dec. 8) after tallying nine points (2g, 7a) in four games to start December, including scoring the overtime goal to cap San Jose’s four-goal comeback against Detroit on Dec. 7, his 500th career NHL point. Since the Sharks’ first win of the season on Nov. 7, Granlund is ted for seventh in the NHL in assists (19), entering games Dec. 23. The Finnish forward recently matched his career high with a six-game assist streak (Dec. 1-12) with 10 helpers in that span. Inside his December run is a pair of three-point efforts, both a goal and two assists, in the Dec. 1 win at New Jersey and Dec. 7 at Detroit, the former being the first three-point game by a Sharks skater on the year and his first since Feb. 23, 2023, a game in which he posted two goals and an assist against the Sharks as a member of the Nashville Predators.
YOU ZETTER BELIEVE IT
Forward Fabian Zetterlund is enjoying a career year on the offensive end, his most recent goal coming Dec. 27 to join Tomáš Hertl as the lone Sharks with double-digit goals on the season, Zetterlund’s 10th of the campaign. The Swedish forward has found the back of the net in back-to-back contests and has points in three straight (2g, 1a) entering Dec. 28 against Edmonton.
FIGHT TO THE FINISH
San Jose has elevated its play in the third period over the course of December, the Sharks tied for third in the NHL with 17 goals in the final 20 minutes of regulation entering games Dec. 28, trailing only the Buffalo Sabres (19) and Toronto Maple Leafs (18). Tomáš Hertl leads San Jose with seven third-period strikes on the season, including three extra attacker goals in December, and Mike Hoffman ranks second on the club with four.
TIGHT MARGINS, BIG RESULTS
San Jose played in six consecutive one-goal games from Dec. 3-15, earning points in four of the last five (3-1-1) as part of the Sharks’ hot run that started the month of December. Entering play on Dec. 28, the Sharks rank 10th in the NHL with a .708 points percentage in one-score contests on the season. San Jose, with a record of 7-2-3 on the year in games decided by a single goal, is tied for 11th-most one-goal wins this season.
FREE WILLY
Forward William Eklund notched his fourth game-winning goal the Sharks’ Dec. 12 win over Winnipeg, the forward now tied for fourth in the NHL with four game-winning goals on the season as of games played Dec. 23. He has registered the winner in two of the Sharks’ past three victories and has points in five of the past eight games (2g, 5a), entering Wednesday’s game at Los Angeles. He scored the OT winner and also registered the primary assist on the game-tying goal in the Sharks’ come-from-behind win at New York Islanders (Dec. 5), becoming the third-youngest player in NHL history to record the first helper on the game-tying score (in the final 1:30) in addition to scoring the winner, and he’s the fifth-youngest Shark in team history to score in overtime. Since joining the league, Eklund is tied with Max Pacioretty for the most GWG (4), has the third-most points (23) and 18th-best points-per-game clip (0.46; min. 10 GP) among players with 51 or fewer games played following games played Dec. 27.
JUST KEEP SWIMMING
After a trying first 11 games to start the season in which San Jose went 0-10-1 to open the campaign, the Sharks have rebounded with a vastly improved record over the club’s last 24 contests – an overall record of 9-13-2, with wins in six of the past 10 home games and the team’s first road wins of the season, Dec. 1 at NJD, Dec. 5 at NYI and Dec. 7 at DET. Since the calendar flipped to December, the Sharks are 4-7-1 with three of the seven losses coming by just one goal.
