The Edmonton Oilers may never lose again.
A 4-1 victory against the LA Kings on Tuesday night helped move the Oilers to a sparkling 5-0-1 record, which continues their streak as the only team in the NHL that has yet to suffer a regulation loss.
It’s the first time since the 1984-85 season that Edmonton has managed a start like this, and they are finding a way to win in all sorts of different ways. The Kings outshot the Oilers by a 40-16 margin, but still found a way to pull out a decisive win.
The victory also concludes a perfect three-game road trip through California, which saw Edmonton knock off the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and Kings in order.
The Mike Babcock era is off to a blistering start in the Alberta capital, and Connor McDavid couldn’t be happier about it. The captain met with the media after the victory, where he outlined what is different about this year’s team.
“I see a team that’s upbeat, I see a team that’s energetic, that’s got speed,” McDavid told reporters. “It’s aggressive, wins a lot of puck battles; those are all great things, and you do those night after night, you’re going to put together some wins.”
"He's such a calming presence, makes the big saves. Seems to make timely saves, which is half the battle in goaltending. He's been really solid for us."
Connor McDavid on the play of #Oilers netminder Devon Levi. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/lVqo2UG7HL
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 14, 2026
McDavid has been a major part of Edmonton’s excellent start. The Oilers captain is off to the best start of his career with a whopping 17 points through the first six games of the season, which leads the entire NHL.
As he skated out for his 800th career game on Tuesday night, he added another four points to his totals with a goal and three assists. McDavid also got plenty of help from goaltender Devon Levi, who turned aside 39 of the 40 shots he faced.
“He’s been great, honestly. Just such a calming presence in there,” McDavid said of Levi. “Makes the big saves, seems to make timely saves, which is half the battle with goaltending. He’s been really solid for us; we can be a little bit better in front of him for sure.”
That entire top line has been buzzing for Edmonton this October. While McDavid has been leading the charge, Leon Draisaitl has been cooking with 11 points of his own, while Vasily Podkolzin is one off the league lead in goals with seven through six games.
You don’t often see McDavid and Draisaitl left on a line this long together these days, but the Oilers captain isn’t complaining.
“It’s been fun, obviously. Leon is one of the best players in the world a lot of nights,” McDavid said. “To be able to play with him and [Podkolzin], [Bouchard] a lot of shifts with [Ekholm], it’s a fun unit to be out there with.
“To get a nice string of games together to kind of build a little bit of chemistry and work on things, it’s been a lot of fun.”
That McDrai connection shows up early in LA ☝️ pic.twitter.com/F0DVNpPAYx
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 14, 2026
There has been a lot of speculation about McDavid’s future with the Oilers heading into the season, and how much pressure is on the team to find a way over the hump. The first challenge was getting off to a good start, which can be confidently checked off the list.
The next test will be to keep this up once injured players start to return to the lineup.