PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Avalanche

The Edmonton Oilers will continue their push to win the Pacific Division when they begin their final homestand of the regular season at Rogers Place on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Avalanche

EDMONTON, AB – Clinched our spot, now it's time to push on.

The Edmonton Oilers have officially locked in their place for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and will compete over their final two regular-season home games to win the Pacific Division title, starting on Monday night with a visit from the Colorado Avalanche to Rogers Place.

Despite a 1-0 shutout loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, the Oilers were helped in clinching a spot by a 7-1 win for the Philadelphia Flyers over the Winnipeg Jets, which means they can't drop below the second Wild Card spot that comes with a first-round matchup with Monday's opponents.

Connor Ingram made 20 saves against the Kings, but Anton Forsberg stopped all 27 shots he faced from the Oilers to allow Artemi Panarin's 28th on a breakaway in the first period to stand up as the game winner.

"I thought the effort was great," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "We worked hard and did a lot of good things right, but we did make some mistakes. Ingram played really well. I thought we had enough scoring chances to certainly get more than one goal tonight, and their goalie played well and we missed some really good opportunities."

With the help of a bounce back on Monday, the Oilers can keep in contention for top spot in the Pacific, while needing three points over their last two games to guarantee second or third in the division and avoid a first-round opponent in the Avalanche.

Los Angeles' shutout victory on Saturday over the Oilers means they still have control of their own destiny for finishing in the Pacific's top three, but a defeat coupled with the Ducks and Kings winning their remaining games could push them into a Wild Card spot.

The Avalanche have already secured the Presidents' Trophy and the Central Division title with a 52-16-11 record, with the Oilers handing them one of their few regulation losses during their last meeting on Mar. 10 with a 4-3 road victory. The season series is split one apiece after Colorado's one-sided 9-1 win earlier in the campaign.

With a spot secured, the Oilers know if they win their remaining two home games, anything other than two wins for the Golden Knights would mean they'd be Pacific champions for the first time since 1987, because they also own the tiebreaker.

"It's all about that next game, and we'll go home to prepare, and we've got two left to find a way to put both those in the bank," Adam Henrique said.

The Oilers are receiving backup from the AHL after forward Isaac Howard was recalled from the Bakersfield Condors, likely as a replacement for the injured Max Jones following his early exit with a lower-body injury in Saturday's loss to the Kings.

Pending how long Jones will be out, he's expected to join an injured group so close to the playoffs for the Oilers alongside Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Jason Dickinson.