There are plenty of debates about how much home ice truly counts in the NHL come playoff time, with it not being the same degree of sudden death as opposed to the NFL. However, as much as the road team still gets to play up to three home games per round, there is still that aspect of needing to win at least once on the road in hostile territory.
For the Edmonton Oilers specifically, not having home ice in the second and third round of the playoffs last season didn't stop them from progressing to the Stanley Cup Final. On the flip side, it ultimately cost them on the biggest stage the NHL has to offer, losing the deciding seventh game on the road in Florida against the Panthers.
The point being that even though it's still possible to win without home ice advantage in the NHL, it's still better to have it than not. For example winning your division and ensuring home ice advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs, which brings us to the Oilers' situation again.
Oilers are king of the hill ... for now
As a result of Saturday afternoon's tougher than expected win versus the Buffalo Sabres, the Oilers found themselves finally at the top of the heap in the Pacific Division. To say this is a rarity in Edmonton, would be an extremely significant understatement.
As per Preston Hodgkinson of the Daily Hive, this is the first time that the Oilers have found themselves at the top of the division at any point in a season, since December of the 2021-22 season. That's right, more than three years despite having some of the most outrageous talent in the NHL. (Although this does also allude to just how much hockey is a team game.)
We'll take this a step or 20 further though, in pointing out that the Oilers have not actually won a division title since way back in 1986-87, when the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier were still playing in Edmonton. In fact this stretch of just under four decades is also the longest such drought in the entire NHL, which is as surprising as it is long.
Now yes, it is duly noted that the Oilers' lead at the top of the Pacific Division is just a single point, ahead of the suddenly struggling but still extremely dangerous Vegas Golden Knights. The two must face one more time this season, but even allowing for this, there is still a long way to go for Edmonton's team to actually win the division.
The Oilers are the hottest team in the NHL right now and have been since late November. However, they are quite easily capable of running into some indifferent form themselves, with 33 games still to play in the 2024-25 regular season.
Closing in on the best two teams in the NHL
On the positive side though, apart from securing the actual division the Oilers also have designs on winning the Western Conference as a whole. In this respect they are four points behind the Winnipeg Jets at the summit, with one game in hand and still two contests to play against their Canadian rivals.
If you want to go right to the top, the Oilers are six points behind the Washington Capitals for the best record overall in the NHL. It really shines a light on the recent 3-2 home loss to them, but for what it's worth, the two teams will meet again one more time this regular season, towards the end of February.
As well as the Oilers are playing in general these days, they won't take anything for granted, with things so close in the standings. As per Jamie Umbach of NHL.com, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said:
"We've got to keep playing well, obviously. There are some good teams going to be trying to climb the standings for sure, so things will start to tighten up the last half of the season."
One of the main things which helps the Oilers, is the calm, composed and cerebral nature of coach Kris Knoblauch. He has clearly influenced the team ever since he took over from Jay Woodcroft, and if anyone can keep the players focused and determined, it's him.
Not that Knoblauch isn't still learning himself in his first NHL head coaching gig, but it's (significantly) more positive than not. Consider that since he coached his first game in Edmonton, his .686 regular season winning percentage is best among all 32 NHL teams.
Of course this only helps so much come playoff time, which is again why it is so important to finish as high up the standings as possible. Yes this Oilers team is more than capable of winning even without home ice advantage, but if they do have it, there really is a strong chance they will finally win the Stanley Cup again, for the first time since the 1989-90 season.