Things are rapidly changing in the Western Conference Playoff picture. Just a week ago I thought that the Oilers were fairly entrenched in third place in the division without much hope of gaining on the Kings or the Golden Knights. A win against the Golden Knights and the Kings losing once suddenly opens things up all over again. The Oilers once more have a really good shot at not only winning the Division but the Conference as a whole.

Hey how about those Flames? Calgary seemed to have no shot at making the playoffs but suddenly are only two points back of the Winnipeg Jets who have absolutely plummeted in the standings over the past month. Calgary also plays Winnipeg one more time before the season is done.

We have assumed for a long time that the Oilers and Flames would not see each other again this season but how wild would it be if the Oilers won the Conference, Calgary snuck into the last Wild Card spot and we got another BoA playoff series?

There is a decent chance that Edmonton could play against the Golden Knights in the first round of the playoffs and the last game showed that the Oilers were more than up to the task. While there were a couple of unlucky goals scored against the Oilers from some bad bounces, Edmonton absolutely dominated in that game, particularly in the second period. Draisaitl was unstoppable, the PP was firing on all cylinders and RNH quietly put up a 5 point night.

We need to talk about RNH more because I have not done nearly a good enough job at highlighting what this player has done this season. RNH is on pace to hit 100 points this season with his previous career high coming in 18/19 with 69 points. 20 EV Goals, 50 points on the powerplay. RNH is having himself a heck of a season and no one is talking about it enough.

RNH currently sits 6th in the NHL in scoring with 96 points, just one point less than Matt Tkachuk. RNH has more points this season than Marner, Robertson, Rantanen, Hughes, MacKinnon, Crosby, Matthews, the list goes on. The Oilers have had the top two point producers for the last few years. This season there is a very high chance that the Edmonton Oilers will have three of the top five scorers in the NHL on their roster. Oilers fans are eating well.

At the start of this season, I thought RNH would be an excellent option on the third line to pick up some points against lesser competition. I also have previously said that Nuge might be a slight overpay on his contract but it was worth it to keep a fan favorite who wanted to play here locked up long term. I'm very happy to be wrong. Nuge is going to be a 100 point player this season and is making 5.25 million per year. Decent value.

I'm intrigued to watch this Kings team tonight. I thought the Kings had a decent roster but I was surprised that they have managed to stay ahead in the standings for so long. Edmonton is 0-2 against the Kings this season.

This should be a great game and I expect some heavy play from both sides as these teams understand that this may be their first round opponent. Should make for some great hockey.

Thanks for reading!

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