PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Ducks

The Edmonton Oilers look to pull closer to the Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division with a victory in their head-to-head matchup at Rogers Place on Saturday afternoon.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Ducks

EDMONTON, AB – Keeping the Ducks within our sights.

The Edmonton Oilers will be hunting for two vital points in the race for first in the Pacific Division against the Anaheim Ducks, aiming to stay on the tails of the division leaders with the help of a victory on Saturday afternoon in the first of their four-game homestand at Rogers Place this week.

The points have become that much more important at this stage of the season, with Saturday's matinée meeting between the Oilers & Ducks representing a traditional 'four-pointer' where Edmonton can pull to within three of the division lead despite the Ducks having one game in hand on them.

The Ducks can put a seven-point gap between themselves and the rest of the Pacific with a regulation win over the Oilers on Saturday, having gone 4-0-1 in their last five games after needing overtime to beat the Flames 3-2 on Thursday in Calgary.

The Oilers currently sit five back of the Ducks after picking up the extra point in a 4-3 victory over the Golden Knights on Tuesday, where Evan Bouchard sniped his career-high 20th goal of the season at 3:10 of overtime to move his team two ahead of Vegas for second in the Pacific with nine regular-season games left.

“Every point is magnified. It’s hard to gain points when there are only nine games left,” Hyman said. "So a big win for us to stay ahead."

After recording his 800th career assist on Matt Savoie's opening goal, McDavid won the faceoff cleanly to Bouchard in overtime to pick up his 80th assist of the season, becoming the eighth player in NHL history with at least three 80-assist seasons and tying Nikita Kucherov for the league lead in points (121).

Before that, the Oilers killed off two minutes of a four-on-three for the Golden Knights with the help of Connor Murphy, Darnell Nurse and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who stayed on for the entire kill and drew praise from their coaches & teammates post-game for their shorthanded heroics.

"Murph, Nursey and Nuge, I thought they did a pretty good job," Knoblauch said. "We gave up a couple shots, but they were on the perimeter. I don't think they could have killed that any better."

Connor Ingram made 26 saves for Edmonton's second straight victory after Tristan Jarry stopped 16 of 18 against Utah on Tuesday, setting up the chance for their side to win three games in a row for the second time this year on Saturday.

"The last two games have been both really good," Ingram said. "We found a way to play that's giving us success and now it's just not being stubborn and sticking with it, just playing simple. We're a good enough hockey club where we're going to get our chances, so as long as we don't give them any, we're going to be just fine."

Further to Ingram's analysis, Coach Knoblauch says that the Oilers are currently playing the right way to not only earn a playoff spot and win the Pacific Division, but compete and thrive in the postseason like they have over two straight trips to the Cup Final.

"We're looking more like we're playing a playoff game, like things matter," Knoblauch said. "Attention to detail and we're simplifying our game. It's nice to see. And obviously, the games are so important right now that everyone seems like they're dialled in and needing to. They know the urgency to play right."