After falling apart and giving up a 2-goal lead in the second period against the Toronto Maples on Saturday night the Edmonton Oilers currently sit in the first wild card spot. The issue with the Edmonton Oilers trying to move up in the standings is every team ahead of them has almost identical records in their last 10 games.
The best way for the Edmonton Oilers to move up in the standings is to win games their games against the teams ahead of them. Right now ahead of the Edmonton Oilers are the Seattle Kraken(81 points), Los Angeles Kings(85 points) and the Vegas Golden Knights(88 points).
The good news for the Oilers is there are 15 games left to close that gap. The problem is if the Edmonton Oilers win a game right now it seems so do the teams they are competing against. This is where the good news for the Oilers comes in.
Must Win Games For The Edmonton Oilers
With the 15 games remaining for the Edmonton Oilers they play 5 games against the teams ahead of them in the Pacific Division. These are 4-point games in a way. If the Edmonton Oilers win against the team that means they move up while keeping the opposing team’s stationery.
They play the Seattle Kraken once(March 18), the Vegas Golden Knights twice(March 25 and 28) and the Los Angeles Kings twice(March 30 and April 4). These are going to be must-win games for the Oilers if they want to have a chance for home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
If the Oilers are able to win all of these games it would set them up to be in a very good spot heading into the playoff, and I am pretty sure the Oilers will be in the playoffs.
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Beating The Lower Teams Will Help Too
Of the remaining 10 games that aren’t against the teams ahead of them in the Pacific Division, there are also 5 against the teams below them in the division as well. They play the San Jose Sharks three times and the Anaheim Ducks twice.
This should be another easy way for the Oilers to gain some points on the rest of the Pacific Division. Both the Sharks and the Ducks are in the bottom 4 of the league standings. Hopefully, with them being so bad the Edmonton Oilers cans sweep those 5 games and bank an easy 10 points.
The division is not the only place the Edmonton Oilers will find themselves playing weaker teams. The Oilers also happen to face the Arizona Coyotes twice. You should be able to just add 4 points to the Oilers’ total right now,
I have no doubt that the Edmonton Oilers will be in the playoffs. For me, I would just like to see them get home ice for as long as they can in the playoffs. There is still a chance they can win not only the division but the whole Western Conference.