Oilers have perfect opportunity to climb the standings this month
There is no time like the present for the Edmonton Oilers.
The team is absolutely rolling with a six-game winning streak and is currently a single point back of the Arizona Coyotes for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. Perhaps more surprisingly, they are also within striking distance of the LA Kings, who are just six points ahead of the Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division.
NHL.com
Edmonton has had to beat a few very good teams on this stretch, including the Kings, and will now have a great opportunity to climb the standings with a weaker slate of teams up next on the schedule.
Starting on Saturday the team will embark on what should be one of the easier portions of their schedule. Eight of the next 10 Oilers games will be against teams that aren’t currently in the playoffs. This stretch begins with the 29th-placed Ottawa Senators at home and will include two games against the 31st-ranked Chicago Blackhawks.
The Oilers have done well against lower-seeded teams of late. On their California trip before the New Year, Edmonton shredded the last-place San Jose Sharks 5-0 and then dismantled the 30th-place Anaheim Ducks in a 7-2 victory a few nights later.
The two playoff teams that the Oilers will have to deal with in between will be the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 16 and the Nashville Predators on January 27.
It’s not improbable to say that the team could maintain something like a 7-2-1 record over that stretch, which would vault their overall record to 26-17-2 and from 39 points up to 54. If this indeed does happen, it will almost entirely erase the deficit that they built up early in the season and once again make them legitimate contenders in the Pacific Division.
However, it’s easy to sit back and point out games that the Oilers should win. The NHL is a deep league and no win is guaranteed. This might be an easier stretch for Edmonton, but that doesn’t mean the wins will come automatically.
We’ll see if the Oilers are up to the challenge and can finally live up to their Stanley Cup favourite billing from the offseason.
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