:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48481719/GettyImages-73024844.0.jpg)
January 2, 2007 - With goals from Raffi Torres, Ales Hemsky, Fernando Pisani, and Ryan Smyth and Dwayne Roloson turning away 25 of 26 shots, the Oilers beat the Florida Panthers by a score of 4-1, winning their first game of 2007 and the franchise's 1,000 game during the regular season. That game was the 2,114th in history, making the Oilers the third fastest franchise to reach the mark behind the Philadelphia Flyers who reached the mark in almost 100 fewer games, 2,018 to be exact, and the Montreal Canadiens who won their 1,000th game in game 2,064.
If you count the playoff though, this was actually win number 1,152 for the Oilers in the NHL in game number 2,365. The Oilers real 1,000th win in the NHL had happened almost five years earlier, on November 30, 2002, when they beat the Dallas Stars by a score of 3-1. Including the Oilers 135 playoff wins into the total shaves five years and 69 games off the number needed to reach 1,000; this was the Oilers' 2,045th game in the NHL.
The Oilers franchise history extends beyond the start of the 1979/80 season though, there are another seven seasons in the World Hockey Association that could be included in the total as well. In seven ears in the WHA the Oilers amassed a record of 268-297-24 in 589 games. With those 268 wins included in the total, the franchise's 1,000th win came on January 22, 1995 in Los Angeles, two games into the strike shortened 1994/95 season, in game number 1,982 for the franchise.