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The Edmonton Oilers might never lose again.

At least that’s how it appears right now, as they’re on a 16-game winning streak heading into their game against the Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET, Hulu/ESPN+). If they win, they’ll tie the all-time NHL record of 17, set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins — and they’ll have a chance to break the record against the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 9.

It’s a massive turnaround for the Oilers, who lost 10 of their first 12 games and were only 13-15-1 before the streak started. They’re third in the Pacific Division and seem to have unlocked their full potential in what’s proving to be a magical season.

With the Oilers looking to make history, we were reminded of other greatest single-season winning streaks across sports.

NHL: 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins (17 games)

The Penguins missed Mario Lemieux for part of the season because of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but his return inspired them to greatness. Lemieux had 51 points during the Penguins’ streak — 20 more than Adam Oates, the next-highest player. Pittsburgh scored 10 goals in a game twice in that span, with Lemieux contributing five goals in their 10-4 win against the New York Rangers. The streak ended with a 6-6 OT tie against the New Jersey Devils in the regular-season finale. Pittsburgh went on to be upset by the New York Islanders in a seven-game second-round playoff series.

Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich — the ’71-’72 Lakers were loaded with legends, and it showed. Los Angeles averaged 123.3 points per game during their streak, the most in the NBA at the time. They won 8 games by 20+ points, 2 by 40+ points, and 23 in total by double digits. Strangely, the loss that broke the streak — a 120-104 defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks — actually sparked a 2-4 skid. But it was just a blip on the radar — the Lakers went 69-13, a mark that would stand until the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls went 72-10, and won an NBA title in five games.

What happens when you pair Tom Brady and Randy Moss on the same team? Greatness, bordering on absurdity. Moss caught 23 touchdown passes from Brady, breaking Jerry Rice’s record of 22. Brady became the first quarterback ever to throw for 50 touchdowns in a season. The Patriots as a whole scored 589 points, a record that would stand until the 2013 Broncos surpassed it with 606. Unfortunately for Patriots fans, this season is more known for how it ended, with a stunning loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

The Spider caught a lot of flies in his incredible UFC career. He hit the ground running, winning his first 16 matches in stylish and epic fashion. Silva had 10 straight title defenses during this period, the second-longest streak in UFC history behind Demetrious Johnson. He beat Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen twice each, along with wins over Forrest Griffin and Vitor Belfort. Silva eventually lost in spectacular fashion against Chris Weidman, ending his streak.

Lisa Leslie went off during the Sparks’ dominant run, averaging 21.2 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 2.8 APG. The Sparks, as a whole, averaged 80 PPG during the streak, almost nine points higher than the next-best team (Sacramento Monarchs at 71.6). Their point differential of 11.8 was over 5 points per game better than any other team in that span. Their streak ended in heartbreaking fashion, with Adrienne Goodson hitting a go-ahead shot with .1 seconds remaining to give the Utah Starzz an 80-78 win.

College football: 1894 Yale Bulldogs(16-0)

We have to go all the way back to the 19th century for this one. The Bulldogs outscored their opponents an astounding 485-13 during the streak, shutting out 13 of their 16 opponents. George Adee, their starting quarterback, is also a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. If you’re looking for more modern streaks, the 2018 Clemson Tigers, 2019 LSU Tigers, 2022 Georgia Bulldogs and 2023 Michigan Wolverines all went 15-0.

Women’s college basketball: 2011-12 Baylor Bears and 2013-14 UConn Huskies (40 games)

While there have been other undefeated seasons in women’s college basketball, no other team accomplished the feat in a 40-game season like Baylor and UConn did. A special note for the Huskies — their 2013-14 undefeated campaign was part of a larger undefeated run of 111 games that lasted from Nov. 23, 2014, to March 27, 2017.

Men’s college basketball: 2014-15 Kentucky Wildcats (38 games)

This team was loaded with future NBA talent. Nine players on the Wildcats’ roster later played in the NBA, including Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, Willie Cauley-Stein and Trey Lyles. They tied the single-season Division I record for wins in a season with the 2012 Kentucky squad and 2008 Memphis Tigers (later vacated). All of those teams were coached by John Calipari, by the by. Their only loss came against the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four.

Five of Nelson’s 11 wins came by at least 5 shots. One of his wins was the 1945 PGA Championship — the lone major played that season because of World War II. The longest streak since Nelson’s feat? Tiger Woods, with seven straight wins in 2006-7.

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

MILWAUKEE — The Cincinnati Reds lost 1-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to become only the second team in the live-ball era (since 1920) to lose three consecutive 1-0 games.

The Reds joined the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost three straight in the same fashion in 1960, according to ESPN Research.

“Nobody’s happy with what’s happened the last three games,” Reds manager Terry Francona said after the string of 1-0 losses continued in the opener of a four-game series at Milwaukee. “We’ll figure it out together. I feel strongly about that.”

Cincinnati’s lineup showcased its potential Monday in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers, but the Reds haven’t scored since.

Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi outdueled Carson Spiers on Tuesday. Jack Leiter and four Texas relievers combined for 10 strikeouts Wednesday as the Reds wasted a brilliant performance from Hunter Greene.

Milwaukee’s Nestor Cortes shut down Cincinnati on Thursday, allowing one hit, striking out six and walking two over six innings.

Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo gave up four hits and one unearned run in 6⅔ innings Thursday, but he took the loss because the Reds mustered just two hits.

“It’s part of the game, you know?” Lodolo said. “I’ll be honest with you. Obviously I want us to score, but I’m not really thinking about it. I’ve got to do my job at the end of the day, regardless. We’ll turn it around. I guarantee that.”

That’s the attitude Francona wants to see from his pitchers as Cincinnati’s hitters try to break out of their slump.

“We’re not going to have a situation where it’s ‘us’ when we win and it’s ‘they’ when we lose,” Francona said. “We’ll do this together.”

Francona said there’s no common thread between the games that explains his lineup’s struggles. The Reds have faced different styles of pitchers each time.

Eovaldi is a veteran right-hander who went the distance while allowing four hits and no walks. Leiter’s a hard-throwing rookie right-hander. Cortes, a veteran left-hander, doesn’t have the velocity of Eovaldi or Leiter but effectively mixed his cutter and changeup with his fastball.

Cincinnati’s struggles Thursday may have been particularly frustrating because Cortes looked so awful in his last start, a 20-9 loss to the New York Yankees. Cortes allowed homers on each of his first three pitches that day and ended up yielding eight hits and five walks in two innings of a game that drew attention to the Yankees’ use of “torpedo bats.”

The Reds made Cortes look like an entirely different pitcher.

“It was embarrassing, what happened to me last time,” Cortes said. “I think, as a starter, you’ve got 30 or 32 of these. There’s going to be a lot of bad ones throughout the way. You’ve just got to learn how to brush them off and go to the next one. That’s what I did.”

The Reds’ lone hit off Cortes came from Jose Trevino, who delivered a one-out double in the third off his former Yankees teammate. Cincinnati’s only other hit Thursday was a single by Jeimer Candelario off Elvis Peguero in the seventh.

Cincinnati has a combined nine hits, three walks and 27 strikeouts during the skid.

“To be totally honest, you see this all the time throughout a baseball season,” Trevino said. “Pitchers will pick up the hitters and the hitters will pick up the pitchers. It will all switch at some point. We’re going to need them. They’re going to need us. And at some point, we’re all going to be together. That’s just how the baseball season goes.

“Right now, our pitchers are doing really well and our hitters, we’re grinding. It’s not like we’re out there trying to give outs away. We’re out there putting some good at-bats together. We’re going to turn this thing around. I have full confidence in this team.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Dodgers’ Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

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Dodgers' Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who slipped and fell in the shower Sunday morning, was put on the injured list for his ankle injury, the team announced Thursday.

The move is retroactive to Monday. He hasn’t played since Saturday and is 3-for-12 this season with two home runs and four RBIs.

The incident happened at home during the Dodgers’ off day. Freeman’s wife had to drive him to Dodger Stadium on Sunday for a three-hour treatment session. By the time it was over, he was able to drive himself home. An X-ray showed no serious damage.

Freeman sprained his right ankle on a play at first base in late September and struggled in the first two rounds of the postseason, but it was hardly evident during the World Series. He homered in the first four games and had 12 RBIs, earning the World Series MVP award as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games.

He had debridement surgery in December to remove loose bodies in the ankle.

The Dodgers (8-0) begin a three-game series at the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge smiled and perhaps blushed when informed of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s praise.

“We all tell him every day: ‘Hey, we want to be you when we grow up,'” Chisholm said after Judge became the third-fastest New York Yankees player to reach 500 extra-base hits with a three-run homer in the first inning of Thursday night’s 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And the two players who reached the mark in fewer games than Judge? Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.

“When I’m an old man coming to Old-Timers Day, I can look back and we can joke about it and laugh about it,” Judge said.

Coming off his second American League MVP award, Judge fell a triple short of the cycle and is hitting .417 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the first six games this season. He has 320 homers, 175 doubles and five triples in 999 games, and only DiMaggio (853) and Gehrig (869) reached 500 extra-base hits in fewer games among Yankees.

“I feel like he’s still getting there, which is remarkable,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s that part of me that takes him for granted a little bit. I just feel like he should get an extra-base hit every time. I kind of say it out loud just to try and remind myself what we’re watching every day.”

Judge lined a 1-1 fastball from Merrill Kelly at 112.1 mph to the opposite field and into the Yankees’ bullpen for a 3-0 lead. He added a run-scoring single in the fourth inning as the Yankees moved ahead 7-3 and hit a 111.3 mph double in the sixth. He also flied out and hit a 109.5 mph groundout.

“I’m like, did you miss that one?” Boone recalled, laughing. “I catch myself having these ridiculous conversations with him sometimes, just because he keeps setting the bar so darn high.”

Judge knows he’s in for ribbing when he singles or doubles.

“He gives me a little smirk when I get on base like that,” he said.

Judge also stole his first base of the season, as did Chisholm. Judge swiped 10 last year to Chisholm’s 40.

“I told him I was going to catch him in stolen bases this year,” Judge said playfully.

“He’s starting to steal bags now. It’s just getting ridiculous out of him, man,” Chisholm said.

Chisholm and Trent Grisham hit two-run homers off Kelly (1-1), who allowed a career-high nine runs, nine hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. Chisholm is hitting .292 with four homers and eight RBIs.

“I’m OK compared to him. I’m trying to get to his level right now,” Chisholm said of Judge. “I told him I’m not going to try to fall behind him too far. I got to keep up with him.”

New York had 22 homers on a 4-2 opening homestand, five more than any other team ever hit in its first six games. Even though it was game No. 6, the Yankees felt an urgency after losing the Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Big G said a couple words before the game, just about this was our home turf. We got to go out there and we don’t get swept at home,” he said of Giancarlo Stanton. “Guys took that to heart.”

Carlos Carrasco (1-0) got his first Yankees win, giving up three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. After New York opened a 9-3 lead, Geraldo Perdomo hit a seventh-inning grand slam off Ryan Yarbrough. Luke Weaver got four outs for his first save this season, ending Arizona’s three-game winning streak.

Judge repeatedly refers to last year’s World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It weighs on him far more than historical accomplishments.

“Especially after last season where we weren’t able to finish the job, guys are motivated to go out and do something special,” he said. “It starts every game you play.”

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