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A 3-2 victory over the Canucks last night puts the Oilers on a four game win streak.
The Oilers are on fire right now. They’re going to need to keep it up.
A two-goal first period saw goals from Alex Chiasson and Zack Kassian. Kassian’s scored a goal in each of his last four games. If you’re going to pick a time to score some goals, doing it when you’re chasing a wild card position late in the season is as good of a time as any. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would score what would become the game winner early on in the second period.
McDavid would pick up two assists in this game. The Canucks wouldn’t get on the board until late in the second period when Jay Beagle scored his third of the year. Alexander Edler scored his seventh goal midway through the third period, but that’s where it would end for the Canucks. The Oilers would emerge with two more points, winners of their last four in a row.
How does that translate to the standings?
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Short answer: it doesn’t.
The Oilers are pretty hot right now, and they’re going to need to continue to be hot if they want to even entertain the idea of playing hockey into April. Last night’s win over Vancouver gets them two points, putting them on pace for about 82 on the year. They would’ve gained some ground had the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Minnesota Wild, but the Lightning failed to score even one goal against the Wild. What could have been five points out remains at seven points for the Oilers, which is kind of a kick in the gut after seeing them win their fourth in a row.
No worries, right? Keep on winning and things will work out, right?
Edmonton will need to keep the good times rolling, while getting some help in the standings. Edmonton will go for five in a row as they face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Rogers Place on Saturday night. They’ll host the Rangers and the Devils after, needing points in all of these games to keep pace.
Scoreboard watching? The Wild will roll into Florida on Friday night before coming home to face the Sharks on Monday.
Can the Oilers keep grabbing points in their late-season dash to the finish?