The Oilers Clinched A Playoff Spot, Just Don't Ask How

The Edmonton Oilers are going back to the playoffs. For the seventh straight season, Oilers fans can experience playoff hockey in Edmonton. Somewhere, someone in the organization is probably popping champagne.

If so, they might want to wait until they’ve actually earned it.

Saturday’s clinching moment arrived not in the visitors’ dressing room at Crypto.com Arena, where the Oilers had just been shut out 1-0 by the Los Angeles Kings, but a few hours later, in a box score from Philadelphia. The Flyers beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-1, and just like that, Edmonton’s playoff fate was sealed by a team they weren’t playing, in a city they weren’t in, on a night they couldn’t even score a goal themselves.

That’s not exactly how you draw it up.

The Oilers had their chance to do this themselves. A single point against the Kings would have clinched it outright. Instead, Artemi Panarin stole the puck from Evan Bouchard at the blue line, scored on a breakaway in the first period, and that was the game.

Anton Forsberg finished with a 27-save shutout. It was Edmonton’s fourth shutout loss of the season.

Connor Ingram Back and Dialed In Despite Loss to Kings

Connor Ingram Back and Dialed In Despite Loss to Kings Despite a tough loss, Connor Ingram returned, showcasing impressive saves and athleticism, proving that an injury worry might not be a concern.

“We just couldn’t find a way to get one,” center Adam Henrique said. “I thought we pushed hard throughout the entire game, had a lot of opportunities, but couldn’t find a way to get that first one.”

So they sat and waited. And the Flyers obliged.

Look, this six-year playoff streak, now seven, didn’t come easy. There were stretches this season where it looked like this might be the year it all fell apart.

Multiple Scenarios Will Officially Allow Oilers to Clinch Playoff Spot On Saturday One point for the Edmonton Oilers secures their playoff spot. Even a loss might suffice depending on the Jets’ game outcome.

Leon Draisaitl went down with a lower-body injury on March 15. He’ll miss the rest of the regular season after piling up 97 points in 65 games. Draisaitl had been directly involved in 41 percent of their goals. Zach Hyman went down not long after.

And then suddenly Edmonton’s depth was being tested in ways it hadn’t anticipated. They went 8-4-1 without their second-best player, who would be the player on almost any other team.

The Oilers have long been vocal about their singular goal—get in, and worry about everything else once you’re in. Kris Knoblauch has said it, and McDavid and everybody have implied it.

A Good Problem to Have? Oilers Facing Intriguing Depth Forward Decision Trent Frederic and Colton Dach are potentially forcing a tough choice on the Edmonton Oilers. There isn’t room for everyone as playoff decisions loom.

The thinking is rooted in recent history: this is a team that has played deep into June on the road, in hostile buildings, and found ways to advance. Home ice isn’t what it is for other franchises. They’ve played plenty of playoff hockey without it.

That’s fair. And practically speaking, the division race is still alive. Edmonton fell one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first in the Pacific on Saturday, though they hold the regulation-wins tiebreaker. Two games remain. Seeding still matters.

But there’s a difference between being indifferent to home ice and being indifferent to the performance that earns it. Getting bounced from your own clinching opportunity by a team that was trying to avenge a blowout that happened in February—the Kings referenced an 8-1 home loss from February 26 afterward—and needing a 7-1 win from the Flyers to push you across the finish line isn’t a great look heading into the postseason.

McDavid’s One-Man Show Carries Oilers Past Sharks The Edmonton Oilers were playing the second half of a back-to-back in San Jose on Wednesday night, coming off a deflating 6-5 overtime loss in Utah the night before, down two of their best forwards in Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman. The Sharks, meanwhile, were rested, desperate for points in a tight Western Conference wild-card race, and playing at home. On paper, the conditions were ideal for an upset.

The Oilers are a team that always seems to go farther than anyone else expected. McDavid is chasing his first Cup. Draisaitl might return sometime in the first round.

But two straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final, two straight losses, and now a clinch that came courtesy of Philadelphia’s generosity—at some point, the bar has to be higher than just getting in.

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