After a lacklustre game played on Monday, the Edmonton Oilers will need to bring their A-game tonight as they face the best team in the Western Conference tonight. The Dallas Stars currently sit atop the West with a record of 47-19-9. The Oilers will need to play mistake-free hockey to take out the 2 points.
The Stars are the hottest team in the NHL right now going 8-2 in their last 10 games and have won their last 7 in a row. All this while the Oilers have been a pedestrian 6-2-2 in their last 10. This game has the potential to be the Western Conference Final, so expect a hard-fought game from both teams.
The Stars have already clinched their playoff spot, but they are still playing for the Presidents Trophy or at least finish atop the West and Central. The Oilers on the other hand still have a small chance to catch up to the Canucks, but more importantly, they want to keep their second-place spot in the Pacific Divison as the Golden Knights are starting to close the gap.
The Oilers have played fewer games than every other team in the NHL and of the teams in the hunt for a Western playoff spot, they have 2 games in hand on all of them except LA where they only have one game. These games in hand only mean something if they win those games, so if the Oilers want to lock down a good spot they can't afford to have poor performances.
Playoff Style Games
The next couple of games on the Oilers schedule are against the two top teams in the West, tonight against the Dallas Stars and Friday they face the Colorado Avalanche. These games are going to be must watch TV. One reason is the note from above, there is still lots to play for standings wise. Another reason is the Art Ross watch.
Both Nathan McKinnon and Connor McDavid are in the middle of a heated points race. MacKinnon is tied for first with Nikita Kucherov with 127 points while McDavid is at126 points. Also mentioned above is the fact that McDavid has two more games left than both of these players so he should be the favorite to win.
That being said MacKinnon or Kucherov aren't just going to stop trying because of that it is going to be an exciting race to watch and having MacKinnon and McDavid playing against each other on Friday should bring out the best in both of them, but till them McDavid is going to want to take the lead tonight against the Stars.