Edmonton Oilers Vs San Jose Sharks: Pacific Division Shuffle
The Edmonton Oilers close their regular season tonight as they host the San Jose Sharks down at Rogers Place. There is still something to play for tonight. If the Oilers win and the Seattle Kraken beat the Vegas Golden Knights in regulation then the Oilers win both the Pacific Division and the Western Conference.
Sportsnet. Thursday, April 13. Oilers -1.5. 7 PM MST. 120. 49-23-9. 148. 22-43-16
Just looking at the record for these two teams there is no doubt going into this game which the favourite is going into tonight. Not only that the Sharks are doing a death march with nothing to play for. I don’t expect them to have much jump tonight.
The Oilers on the other hand are rolling and are going to want to stay hot going into the playoffs. Woodcroft is going to make sure this team plays this game with a playoff attitude. He will not want bad habits to creep into the Oilers game.
I would expect the Edmonton Oilers to put on a defensive clinic tonight to prove they can shut it down. In a perfect world, the Oilers get up early in this game and can just roll through all 4 of the lines. I know McDavid and Draisiatl want to play as much as possible, but at this point you want them to rest.
Potential First-Round Opponents For The Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers still have the potential to play 3 different teams in the first round. They can either play the Kings, Kraken or Jets. To play the Kings the standings have to stay the same, which right now is the most likely.
To face the Kraken, Seattle has to win the Kings loss and the Oilers have to either lose or Vegas has to get an overtime/shootout point against the Kraken. To face the Jets the Edmonton Oilers need a win and a Vegas regulation loss.
It is a very exciting Thursday night standings-wise for the Pacific Division. I will be watching the out-of-town scoreboard just as much as I will be watching the Oilers game.