It is not the ideal schedule to end the regular season. The Edmonton Oilers play six games in nine days. They are coming off a three-day break between games, so that could help them. They did play six games in nine days from March 2nd to the 10th, and those six games were in six different cities as they played in Seattle, Edmonton, Boston, Columbus, Buffalo and Pittsburgh. They went 4-1-1 in those six games and will be looking for a similar record starting tonight.

The travel for these six games will be easier than their March stretch. They play the first four at home tonight — Friday v. Arizona, Saturday v. Vancouver, next Monday v. San Jose — before finishing with road games next Wednesday and Thursday in Arizona and Colorado. The Oilers can secure home-ice advantage and the second spot in the Pacific Division if they go 1-4-1. They do have an outside chance to catch Vancouver for first place, but they will need to defeat the Canucks in regulation and win at least four and possibly all five of their other games. I don’t see the need to blow their load trying to finish first. It would be a nice bonus, but their playoff success won’t hinge on them finishing first or second in the Pacific.

The Oilers just want to continue to play well. “I won’t be focused on the result tonight, as much as the process,” said Mattias Ekholm. “It is about the way we play the game and get ready for the playoffs. We have history with them, we are fighting with them in regards to a potential playoff matchup, but I don’t see it as a statement game. We have greater things in the future than beating the Golden Knights tonight. Obviously we want to beat them, but at the same time it is the time of year where we are focusing on good habits.”

The Oilers aren’t going full Detroit Pistons, when discussing “the process,” but Ekholm’s point is valid. The Oilers want to continue to play well defensively and limit scoring chances off the rush. The one area of their game they need to improve over these final six games is their penalty kill. Since losing to the Golden Knights on February 6th, the Oilers’ penalty kill ranks 29th in the NHL at 72.8%. That is over their last 30 games, so not a small sample size. It needs to improve.

They’ve allowed 25 goals on 92 kills. Darnell Nurse has been on the ice for 21 of those goals. Nurse was excellent on the PK prior to the All-Star break, but since then he has struggled. Nurse has played 66:13 on the PK, while Cody Ceci has played the most minutes at 73:15. Ceci has been on for 11 goals against and has a 9.01 GA/60, while Nurse has been on for 21 and has a 19.02 GA/60. I realize they usually start the PK, and face more minutes against the top units, but it is clear Nurse is struggling more on the PK. When he takes a penalty, the PK has killed if off at a much higher rate.

But even outside of Nurse, the PK has struggled.

In the first 33 games with Kris Knoblauch, the PK was best in the NHL at 89.5%. It allowed 11 goals on 105 kills. Nurse played 93 minutes on the PK and was only on for seven goals against. He had a 4.05 GA/60 in those first 33 games, but it has ballooned to 19.02/60 in the last 30. Many other players are in a similar boat as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has gone from 4.06 GA/60 to 15.31. Derek Ryan had jumped from 4.14/60 to 13.77/60.

Mattias Ekholm has remained the same. In 73 minutes in the first 33 games he had a 4.09 GA/60, and in 59:33 in the last 30 games he has a 4.04 GA/60. Brett Kulak hasn’t killed a lot, but in the first 33 games he wasn’t on for one goal against (0.00 GA/60) in 18:42 and in the last 33 games he has a 4.59 in 26:07. We have seen a few more minutes for Kulak lately, and it is something to monitor over the last six games.

It is the only area of the Oilers’ game that has struggled. Their 5×5 play has been solid outscoring opponents 76-54 over the last 30 games. Their powerplay is 5th at 26.4%.