ANAHEIM -- The Edmonton Oilers' 3-1 victory over the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Friday was their fifth straight win of this post-season, marking their longest streak in 16 years.
The streak, which started with the Oilers down 2-0 to the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference semifinal, is the longest since the playoffs of 1990, when they won eight in a row and then five in a row en route to a fifth Stanley Cup.
"Going into Game 2, we obviously have a chance to bring some momentum home to Edmonton with us," Shawn Horcoff said of the tidy roll the Oilers are on going into tonight's tilt.
"It's nice getting the first win, obviously. We hadn't done that in a series. We've had to kind of fight and claw our way back. We realize the situation they're in, but we know they're going to get better."
The eight-game streak of 1990 began with a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets April 10 in the first round and carried through a 5-2 decision over the Chicago Blackhawks May 2 in the third round.
In all, the Oilers won three straight games against Winnipeg to win the series 4-3, swept Los Angeles 4-0 in the second round and then beat the Blackhawks in the first game of the third round on the way to winning that series 4-2.
"We wanted to carry the momentum from the last series into this one," Ryan Smyth said of reeling off four straight wins against San Jose. "I think we did that. Hopefully, we can continue it."
The last five-game streak started with a 4-2 win over Chicago May 8 of that same playoff year and ended with a 7-2 win over the Boston Bruins May 18 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final.
The current roll appears to have bolstered the Oilers' confidence.
"I think it does," coach Craig MacTavish, who was on the 1990 team with assistants Charlie Huddy and Craig Simpson and GM Kevin Lowe. "But all the teams that are around right now have plenty of confidence in their ability to beat anybody. This time of year, every game is its own entity. You can't take too much from the previous game or the three or four games you've won previously."
