As we near the end of the NHL season the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights have 6 regular season games left while the rest of the Pacific Division have only 5 games left. There are some tight races taking place. While the teams are pretty much solidified there is no team locked in their final spot.
While technically it is possible for the 4 Pacific Division teams to finish in any spot, the more likely outcomes are a battle in the top 2 spots and a battle in the bottom. The battle for position between the Oilers and the Canucks for 1st and the battle between the Los Angeles Kings and Golden Knights for 3rd.
Pacific Division Team | Current Points | Games Remaining |
|---|---|---|
Vancouver Canucks | 102 | 5 |
Edmonton Oilers | 99 | 6 |
Los Angeles Kings | 93 | 5 |
Vegas Golden Knights | 92 | 6 |
As mentioned above there is a very small chance that Vegas wins all 12 of their games and end up with 104 points and Vancouver loses all their games, which would put the Knights in first place, but we all know that is very unlikely to happen. The same can be said about either the Kings or Knights catching the Oilers. That is why I am just going to focus on the race between the top two teams, the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks
With less than a point between them, if the game in hand is won, their remaining schedule becomes a major factor in who will come up on top in either of the races. Not only do the opponents matter it matters if the teams face each other. Those games are twice as important as games against other teams not in the race.
With all of the variables left this season, it will be a very exciting race to see where all these teams end up. Not just for standings purposes, but these last couple of games determine who each one of these teams will be playing in the first round. At the end of the day all these teams want to win the cup, so their path to the cup is decided in the last weeks.