Oilers hope to ride wave to top of Pacific Division
‘Nothing is guaranteed’ as Edmonton faces Canucks in regular season finales
For the Edmonton Oilers, this weekend is the extra point after the game-winning touchdown drive.
It is the 18th hole at the Open Championship when you’ve got a three-shot lead.
Take care of some relatively simple business against the hapless and hopeless Vancouver Canucks and everything they’ve wanted out of this regular season is theirs.
This is not the time for a Jean van de Velde or Tony Romo moment. Choking is not an option.
The Oilers busted their backs for 80 games to get themselves in position to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs — they don’t want to let it slip away in the final two.
“There’s a lot to play for heading into these two games,” said Thursday night hero Milan Lucic, who scored the tying, winning and insurance goals in a 4-2 comeback over the San Jose Sharks. “And nothing is guaranteed.
"Anaheim hasn’t won the division yet.”
The Oilers need one point out of the Saturday and Sunday homeand-home series with Vancouver to clinch second place in the Pacific Division.
They can still win the division outright if they sweep the Canucks and Anaheim loses its final game of the season against Los Angeles.
So getting up for the Canucks, manufacturing the same kind of intensity that was on display against San Jose, shouldn’t be a problem.
“We still have something to play for,” said goaltender Cam Talbot, who established a new franchise record for wins in a season with 41. “We still have home ice to play for. That should be motivation enough for us at this point. We don’t want to have to start in (San Jose), it’s a
There’s a lot to play for heading into these two games ... Nothing is guaranteed. Anaheim hasn’t won the division yet.
tough building to play in.
“If we can start at home, where we’ve been playing some good hockey lately, it’s huge. We have to carry this confidence forward into Saturday night.” And now is not the time to lose focus.
“It’s about our mindset,” said Lucic. “We want to go into the playoffs with our game sharp and confident.”
While it looks like Edmonton will likely play the Sharks, a firstround series with Calgary or Nashville is still an outside possibility. But the Oilers are not spending too much energy on the math.
“You can’t go into the playoffs thinking who you’re going to play or what’s going to happen,” said Patrick Maroon. “We just have to continue what we’ve been doing all year, stick with it and don’t worry about who we’re going to face. We just have to keep doing the things that got us here.”
They’ve won 10 of their last 12 to get here, which makes them one of the hottest teams in the NHL, but when asked if his team is peaking right now, head coach Todd McLellan said he hopes not.
“I hope it comes together in the next few weeks,” he said. “To say this is the pinnacle and be satisfied is dangerous, I wont say that. We’ve put ourselves in a good position for home ice, but we haven’t clinched that. We have some work ahead of us.”
Because aside from Lucic’s third- period show of force, the Oilers spent disturbingly long portions of Thursday’s game on their heels against a Sharks team that didn’t have two of its best players.
“The fact we were able to come in and respond after a slow start was good, but we need to fix that,” said McLellan. “We’ve got to rest, adjust, fix a few things and be prepared to play again.”
HURRICANE LOOCH
Lucic, with five goals in his last three games and 12 points in his last 14, is like a hurricane gaining strength as it moves closer to land. If this is the player he’s going to be throughout the playoffs, it is a major development for the Oilers.
“He’s been huge,” said Talbot. “You get a guy who’s won a Stanley Cup before, with the experience of being in the playoffs and going on some deep runs. It’s something that not too many guys in this room have done.
“He has the experience that we need in a young group. And when he speaks up, guys listen because he’s been around and that’s what we need in this room right now.”
It was a bit of a slow start for the 235-pound winger, but with the games becoming tougher and more intense down the stretch, he’s in his element.
“I really believe he’s full-time Edmonton Oilers right now,” said McLellan. “He bleeds our colours. When you’ve won with another team and spent a good portion of your career there, it takes a little while to adapt and to embrace everything that is going on around you.
“Now he’s so deep into it that it’s all that really matters.”