The Seattle Kraken landed in Edmonton on Tuesday with their playoff destiny in their own hands. All it would take was a gritty effort against an Edmonton Oilers team that was missing one of its superstars, Leon Draisaitl; as much motivation as anyone could ask for. The Oilers, on the other hand, were sitting far more comfortably in their standings position. A .500 record through to the end of the season should see them easily secure a playoff spot, and probably home ice advantage too. They also hadn't managed four wins in a row all year.
Queue Max Jones and Kasperi Kapanen! The Oilers depth scorers stepped up and came through. Jones scored what would stand as the game winner on a nice deflection of a Jake Walman slap shot, and Kapanen made a terrific individual play, breaking out of his own zone with a beautifully timed poke check and then finishing the breakaway he created off with a goal. It's a continuation of the improved play down the roster, and it couldn't have happened at a better time.
Goalies and defense came to play
On his birthday, current Oilers' starting netminder Connor Ingram turned every single shot aside. He didn't have a light evening either, facing 27 shots, on his way to his 10th career shutout. The Oilers' goaltending situation has been the largest inconsistency this season, so continued similar strong play from Ingram could be the beginning of something great.
Goalies don't exist in a vacuum of course, and where one finds a struggling goaltender, they usually will also see poor defense in front of him and high danger opportunities on a regular basis. Edmonton's defense only allowed a single high danger chance at 5-on-5, which is impressive on any night, but even more impressive is the total of only 3 for the game as a whole. Edmonton took three penalties and the Kraken only managed two other dangerous opportunities over their six minutes with an extra man.
Keeping it going
The news on Draisaitl continues to look better, and the team's spirited play and positive results in his absence have them on the precipice of something that hasn't happen in a very long time. The Pacific Division Playoff seeding is far from set, and with the Anaheim Duck's regulation loss to the San Jose Sharks (how about that Celebrini kid), they are as close as they've been to capturing first place and the divisional title all season.
If the Oilers can keep winning, and tonight's game against the non-playoff Chicago Blackhawks gives them a great chance at a 5th straight win, then the pressure will only build on Anaheim. The young Ducks team may not be quite used to playing truly important games, and only a small stumble could give the Oilers a chance to take over first place.
There is a legitimate argument that second in the Pacific is the surest path to the Conference Finals, but Connor McDavid and company deserve the guarantee of home ice advantage through the first two rounds that a division title would give them. With only 7 games to go, we'll know where things end soon enough.