Oilers can clinch a playoff spot for the fourth straight season this week
The Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of making their fourth straight playoff appearance.
After having one of the worst starts to a season in franchise history, sitting with a record of 3-9-1 at one point, the Oilers have scratched and clawed their way up the NHL standings and now have a decent hold on second place in the Pacific Division with a 45-23-4 record and 94 points.
A 16-game winning streak helped with that, but the team has also found ways to limit their losing streaks over the past few months. Edmonton has not lost three consecutive games in regulation since mid-December.
Despite all that, the team has not technically clinched a playoff spot, but that could change over the next few days.
NHL.com
For the most part, the Oilers do not need to worry about most of the non-playoff teams. The Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames have 73 points and cannot catch Edmonton in the standings. Theoretically, the two teams outside the playoff picture that could catch the Oilers are the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild.
In the Blues’ case, they have 82 points and eight more games left on the schedule. This means that, mathematically, they have the potential to end the season with 98 points if they win all those games. If the Oilers defeat the Blues tonight, that number drops to 96 and the Oilers would need just a single point or another St. Louis regulation loss to clinch.
It’s even more desperate for the Wild, who have 79 points with nine games remaining. If they win out they could finish with 97 points. Edmonton only needs three more points or a few Minnesota losses to get out of reach.
Let’s entertain the worst-case scenario for Edmonton and say that both the Blues and Wild miraculously win all their remaining games, which is possible since they do not play against each other. All the Oilers would need to do is win two of their remaining 10 games to clinch a spot.
Conversely, if the Oilers somehow lost every single game to end the season, they would only need the Blues to lose twice in regulation over their remaining eight games to clinch.
The earliest the team can put that coveted ‘x’ beside their name would be Wednesday, should they defeat the Dallas Stars in any fashion that night and take care of business against the Blues in regulation tonight.