NHL: Oilers enter Christmas break on tear [Video]

It was a year ago Sunday when the Edmonton Oilers had won their second game in a row after losing the previous three outings.

Little did they know that the Dec. 22, 2023, win over the New York Rangers was No. 2 of 16 straight wins, a streak that ran a month and a half and fell shy of the National Hockey League record by just one.

That Friday night a year ago saw the Oilers sitting well back of the post-season pack, five points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the final Western Conference wildcard seed in 12th place with a record of 15-15-1. It was 18 games into Kris Knoblauch’s tenure as head coach after he replaced Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12, 2023, when the Oilers had stumbled to a 3-9-1 start to the season.

By the end of the regular season, the Oilers finished second in the Pacific …