On Saturday (March 30), Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers won their third straight game, defeating the Anaheim Ducks 6-1 at Rogers Place.
The victory put Edmonton on the verge of clinching a playoff spot, needing only a regulation win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday (April 1) to secure a place in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Meanwhile, after chasing the league leaders all season, McDavid had finally moved into first place in the Art Ross Trophy race, one point ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov and two points ahead of Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon.
Edmonton was rolling towards the postseason, and its captain was back on top where he belongs. Folks were feeling good in Oil Country. But what a difference a few days can make, because in less than a week everything has gone sideways for the Oilers and McDavid.
While the Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets have all clinched Western Conference playoff berths in the last six days, the Oilers still haven’t punched their postseason ticket. And McDavid (29 goals, 97 assists, 126 points) is suddenly well back in the Art Ross race again, trailing Kucherov (43 goals, 90 assists, 133 points) and MacKinnon (48 goals, 82 assists, 130 points) by seven and four points, respectively.
To top it off, the Oilers are facing doubts about whether they are a legit Stanley Cup contender after a pair of losses this week, 3-2 in overtime to the Blues at Enterprise Center on Monday and 5-0 to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday (April 3) at American Airlines Center.
All this provides a dramatic backdrop for the Western Conference clash tonight (April 5) at Rogers Place between the Oilers and Avalanche, in what is unquestionably to this point the biggest game of Edmonton’s season.
Two points for the Oilers will clinch a playoff berth. At least a couple of points for McDavid will close the gap on Kucherov. But perhaps more than anything, an Oilers’ win will make a statement that the rest of the NHL needs to see and instill confidence that Edmonton’s players need to feel.
Oilers’ Simple Scenario For Clinching Playoff Spot
Edmonton (45-24-5, 95 points) still has a shot at catching the Vancouver Canucks (47-21-8, 102 points) for first place in the Pacific Division. While the Oilers trail the Canucks by seven points, Edmonton has eight games remaining compared to just six for Vancouver. The Oilers and Canucks will face off at Rogers Place on April 13 in a critical “four-point game”.
Related: Oilers Can Still Overtake Canucks For 1st in Pacific: Here’s How
But Edmonton’s first order of business is securing a spot in the postseason. The Oilers can do that with any combination of two points gained by Edmonton and a loss by the Blues, who don’t play again until Saturday (April 6), against the San Jose Sharks.
It’s a virtual certainty that the Oilers will be returning to the NHL postseason for a fifth straight year. But the longer Edmonton goes without clinching a spot, the more it will weigh on the team. After failing to take care of business earlier this week, the Oilers can get that weight off their back by simply beating Colorado tonight.
McDavid Can Close Ground in Art Ross Race
The primary concern for Edmonton’s captain is always going to be the team before himself, but McDavid surely wants to capture the Art Ross Trophy for a fourth consecutive season. And it doesn’t take a hockey genius to figure out that the more points McDavid has, the more goals the Oilers will have scored, the more likely Edmonton is to win.
After picking up just one point in Edmonton’s two-game road trip, McDavid now finds himself the furthest back from first place in the NHL points race since he ended March 23 trailing Kucherov by eight points and MacKinnon by four.
Kucherov and MacKinnon had big nights Thursday, with each picking up three points in their respective team’s victories, Tampa Bay over the Montreal Canadiens 7-4 and Colorado over the Minnesota Wild 5-2. They became the first pair to reach the 130-point mark in an NHL season since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96.
McDavid has the advantage of having eight games remaining on his team’s schedule, two more than both Kucherov and MacKinnon. Tonight will be the first of two occasions that McDavid and MacKinnon go head-to-head before the regular season concludes in two weeks.
Oilers Must Show They Can Beat Top Teams
Edmonton was soundly beaten by the Stars on Wednesday, a dispiriting loss that dropped the Oilers to just 1-5-1 combined against the three teams with the most points in the Western Conference (Dallas, Colorado, Vancouver). Edmonton has been outscored 33-15 in those seven contests.
Granted, four of those games were in the first month of the season, when the Oilers were in a complete funk and before they made the head coaching switch from Jay Woodcroft to Kris Knoblauch that turned their season around.
Edmonton has only played three games combined against the Stars, Avs, and Canucks since early November, but will face the West’s current top three teams a combined three more times in its final eight games. The Oilers’ opportunity to prove they are a Stanley Cup contender begins tonight when the puck drops just after 7 p.m. MT at Rogers Place.