EDMONTON, AB - When the puck drops Saturday afternoon in a matinee matchup between the Oilers and Ottawa Senators, records and statistics go out the window.
The bottom-dwelling Senators, with a 25-43-6 record and sitting 31st overall in the NHL standings, have won three of their last 16 games and know well that their fate this season won't include playoffs
But the Oilers postseason aspirations are coming down to the wire with the club five points back of the Colorado Avalanche for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference with eight regular-season games remaining.
"We know what's at stake," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who eclipsed 300 career points on Thursday with three assists in a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, said Friday morning. "It's a huge game for us and we're well aware of that. We're still in the race and we want to keep that challenge for us and we want to keep pushing for it.
"We're not going to take that lightly tomorrow."
The Oilers were in a similar situation earlier in the month against a struggling New Jersey Devils side with a chance to make up more ground in the playoff picture. A 6-3 defeat quickly derailed those intentions, with players saying post-game that they took the opportunity for granted and weren't properly prepared.
"It's always a concern," Oilers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock said of considering their opponent's position in the standings. "Any time that you play somebody that's below you in the standings, you can get too far ahead of yourself. We talked about it today, and now it's on us and the players. We know what's at stake. It's a natural tendency."
Three of the Oilers next four games are against opposition outside of the playoffs, while teams competing alongside them for a playoff spot such as the Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, and Chicago Blackhawks face tougher tests or one another directly in the coming games.
"We need our 'A' game and we know what's at stake schedule-wise. It's an important time," Hitchcock added. "We can start putting pressure on people because we play ahead of some teams on Saturday afternoon. It's on us. Even in saying that, we're going to have to play well to beat them because what they've replaced their roster with is a bunch of quick, fast-skating players. We're going to have to be ready."
PLATFORM TO PERFORM
Forward Kyle Brodziak tied the game in the second period of Thursday's triumph over the Columbus Blue Jackets with the Oilers eighth shot on goal before they racked up three more in the final frame to secure the vital two points.
Before that, the defence stood firm, allowing only 12 shots of their own and one goal to present the Oilers offence an avenue for working themselves back into the game.
That defensive framework can be a platform to build on Saturday afternoon when the Oilers aim to reduce their playoff-point deficit by two, says Brodziak.
