Oilers quickly gaining ground on Kings for Pacific Division playoff spot
When the Edmonton Oilers started the season 2-9-1 many fans and pundits said the team would be lucky to even make it back into a wildcard spot.
Well, not even halfway through January, the Oilers not only find themselves in a playoff spot, but they are also hot on the heels of the LA Kings for the last playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
The team has been one of the best teams in the league over the last month and a half, winning 16 of their last 20 games and leapfrogging multiple teams to get back into the playoff picture.
Edmonton now has a record of 21-15-1 and 43 points on the season. This is just a mere four points behind the Kings for third place in the Pacific Division.
NHL.com
The Kings have been trending in the exact opposite direction as the Oilers. After starting the season 10-3-3, the West Coast team has dropped six straight and have just three wins in their last 10 games.
As it stands, the Oilers have one more win than the Kings in the same amount of games. The point difference is caused by LA having more overtime and shootout losses, one of which came against Edmonton earlier this month.
This is just the latest wrinkle in a new rivalry between the two teams over recent years. The Oilers have eliminated the Kings in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
As far as other teams in the Pacific that the Oilers are gaining serious ground on, they still have a little bit to go to catch the Vegas Golden Knights at 51 points, and it is unlikely that Edmonton will be able to surpass the Vancouver Canucks, who are humming along at 57 points so far.
That being said, Edmonton does have three games in hand on the Golden Knights, which could make things interesting sooner rather than later.
We’ll see if the Oilers can shorten the gap even more when they try to make it nine wins in a row against the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night.