The Edmonton Oilers only needed a single point to clinch their sixth consecutive playoff berth, and all they had to do was defeat the last-place San Jose Sharks to make it happen. Seems easy enough. And while the good news is that the Oilers did indeed cash in the 4-2 win they needed to punch their ticket to the postseason, the win was not without cost as both Mattias Ekholm and Zach Hyman left the game with injuries. Why can’t we have nice things?

How good was Connor McDavid again on Friday against the Sharks? He was buzzing around the ice right from his first shift, and he looked destined to follow up Wednesday’s three-point night against the Blues with another big one for Clinchmas. It was a dominant performance. What I didn’t necessarily expect, however, was that McDavid would chime in on all four goals the Oilers would score, wrapping up the night with four assists that brought him to 97 points on the year. Then again, I don’t even know why I’d be surprised.

If you factor in the delayed penalty he drew against the Blues that Arvidsson ultimately scored on, the captain has factored in all eight goals the Oilers have scored since he came back from injury. It’s like he decided to drag the Oilers into a playoff spot single-handedly, and he was going to make it happen while teammates fell all around him with injuries and illness. It reminded me of that scene from 1917 where the guy is running to General Mackenzie to deliver the “abort mission” message while bullets and shrapnel are flying all around him. Much like the end of that movie, McDavid arrived to save the day in the nick of time. Unfortunately, with the state of the team right now, this won’t be the last time we’ll need him to do that.

Mattias Ekholm played two shifts for a total of 1:25 before leaving the bench and not returning for the rest of the game. After tumbling awkwardly to the ice a few times, Ekholm went straight down the tunnel, and we didn’t see him again. This was Ekholm’s fifth appearance since March 18th, and it doesn’t take a data scientist to know it didn’t go well. While we still have no idea what is actually going on with our Big Viking Daddy, what we do know is that his return to the lineup was nothing short of troubling. If this were a one-off incident with Ekholm, it would be a big enough problem this close to the playoffs, but our man hasn’t looked right in more than a minute. I’d even say he hasn’t looked like the Mattias Ekholm we all fell in love with for half the season.

If the Oilers are going to get anywhere in the playoffs, Ekholm will have to play a big part in making that happen. He’s big and effective, he doesn’t make many mistakes, and he’s the kind of minute-munching defencemen teams lean on at key moments of any hockey game. That is, of course, when he’s healthy and at his best. We don’t even know when, if, or how long the guy can play right now, and that unfortunate fact throws a massive wrench in our spring plans. To make matters worse, Kris Knoblauch’s vague post-game comments (above) suggest Ekholm won’t be ready for the start of the first round, and that’s a blow we really don’t need.

When it rains, it pours, I suppose. What else can you say when you see player after player going down with injuries of all types? The latest to join the hurt parade was Zach Hyman after he left in the back half of the second period with an unknown injury. Based on the replay, it looked like Hyman took a cross-check to the ribs (???) that did some damage and forced him to leave the ice after trying to battle through the rest of his shift. And after only nine shifts and 7:33 in TOI, Hyman was done for the night, and we haven’t gotten much information since then.

I don’t know what we did to anger the Gords, but we’ve clearly annoyed them to the point of testing us with this endless parade of injuries. Even though we’re all confused about why these injuries keep happening, I think I can speak for all of us when I say we’re sorry, dear Hockey Gords, for whatever we did to draw this ire. We didn’t mean to upset you, and we promise not to do whatever it was that pissed you off ever again. Deal? *sigh* I described the Oilers’ injury situation as a black cloud hanging over us a few days ago, but it’s looking more and more like the team is cursed. And if we do have a curse on our hands, the only thing I know to do to reverse the jinx is some sort of sacrifice. The good news is that we have a few interns I can “handle” to see if that makes a difference. Now, who wants to be my alibi?

1. PLAYOFFS! Let’s go. Am I nervous about how things are going with the health of this team? Yes. Am I excited anyway? Also yes.

2. Who else but Corey Perry to fill in for Zach Hyman on the power play and wind up with the game-winner? Perry has been fantastic all season, but I would have never believed you if you told me he’d have 17 goals by the end of the season with an outside chance of getting to 20. And to have him doing it all while averaging 11:47 in TOI is a part of the story that more people outside of Edmonton should be talking about. His production is making his contract look like a steal, and plenty of us — myself included — thought the Oilers should have ground him down a little bit. I’m very happy to be wrong about this one.

3. How about Ty Emberson finally picking up his first goal as an Oiler? Not only did he score, but the way he pinched his way down toward the crease for a backdoor tap-in on the McDavid feed was a sneaky good offensive play. The only downside of the play was that Gregor nailed his NSOGDP like some kind of witch.

4. Am I going to celebrate Connor Brown’s empty-netter? Yes. Yes, I am. The Oilers have been a disaster with the open cage all season long, so I gave a hearty fist pump when Brown sealed the deal.

5. Nothing describes this season quite like having the Oilers outshooting the Sharks 18-9 at the midway point of the hockey game and the score being 2-2.

6. The Oilers’ special teams were the difference between winning and losing. Edmonton cashed in two goals in five opportunities with the man advantage while giving up nothing in two shorthanded situations. Even though the Sharks stink on special teams, you still have to find a way to execute, and the boys did a fine job of doing precisely that.

7. Not only did the Oilers lock in their playoff spot, but they also won 54% of the faceoffs. How much happiness can one have?