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NHL Notebook: Edmonton Oilers fall one spot in power rankings, Matvei Petrov a prospect to watch, and more

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Photo credit:Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Zach Laing
10 months ago
The Edmonton Oilers fell one spot in Daily Faceoff’s weekly power rankings from fifth down to sixth.
This despite beating the LA Kings 3-1, Anaheim Ducks 3-1 and San Jose Sharks 6-1 last week. The Oilers, too, have been the best team in the NHL since January 10th with a 27-5-6 record and a .789 points percentage — a mere .001 percent higher than that of the 31-8-1 Boston Bruins.
Alas, here’s what Daily Faceoff opined in their rankings:

6. Edmonton Oilers

Record: 48-23-9 (.656%, 8th)
5v5 Goal Differential: +21 (12th)
5v5 xGF/60: 2.98 (t-5th)
5v5 xGA/60: 2.51 (12th)
PP xGF/60: 10.17 (1st)
PK xGA/60: 7.98 (17th)
5v5 PDO: 100.5
Previous Week: 5th (-1)
The Oilers have been tough to beat these days, winning seven in a row now as they keep chasing the Golden Knights for first in the Pacific and the West. They also saw some players hit big milestones this week, with Connor McDavid becoming the sixth player ever to hit the 150 point mark, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hit a measly 100 points.

Petrov a player to watch?

Edmonton Oilers prospect Matvei Petrov has had a great season in the OHL raising his value as a prospect within the organization. He put up 40 goals and 93 points in 63 games this season.
At Daily Faceoff, prospect guru Steven Ellis said Petrov is a player who could be on the Condors next season:
I don’t love the Edmonton Oilers‘ prospect pool by any means, but I do love what I’ve seen from Matvei Petrov over the past two years with the Brampton Batallion. After breaking the 90-point barrier for the second consecutive season, Petrov finished the first-round series with no goals, but 10 assists to lead the team in the first round against the Mississauga Steelheads. The dynamic winger blends good speed, skill and offensive zone awareness that have allowed him to look quite dangerous everywhere he goes. He’s already signed to the Oilers and could end up being a solid piece of the Bakersfield Condors next year.

Stone returns to practice

The Vegas Golden Knight could be getting a boost to their lineup in the playoffs as Mark Stone appears to be nearing a return from injury.
Stone skated with his Golden Knights teammates on Monday, a sign he could be near a return. He’s been rehabbing a back injury that has kept him out of the lineup since January 12th.

Flames on the brink of elimination

The Calgary Flames are on the brink of elimination from the playoffs. And on Monday morning, FlamesNation’s Ryan Pike took a look at where the team sits heading into Monday’s games.
So here’s the situation as Monday’s games approach:
  • Winnipeg has 91 points and three games remaining.
  • Calgary has 90 points and two games remaining.
  • Nashville has 88 points and three games remaining.
Because Winnipeg has clinched the tiebreaker, the Flames would need to finish with one more point than the Jets in order to clinch a playoff spot.
The Flames’ magic number to clinch the playoffs is four games (or eight points) won by the Flames or not won by the Jets. So the Flames clinch with two wins and two Winnipeg regulation losses, or one win and three Winnipeg regulation losses.
That’s it. Those are the two possible scenarios.
The Flames play Nashville on Monday and San Jose on Wednesday. The Jets play San Jose on Monday, Minnesota on Tuesday and Colorado on Thursday.
The Flames’ tragic number for playoff elimination is 1.5 games (or three points) won by the Jets or not won by the Flames. So if Winnipeg gets a win (of any kind) and an overtime or shootout loss, and earn three points, then the Flames are eliminated regardless of what they do in their own games.
So if you’re Team Playoffs, you’re hoping for a San Jose win over Winnipeg and Flames win over Nashville on Monday. Considering the relative position of the Sharks compared to the Jets in the standings, that may be a tall order.
Regardless, the Flames need to take care of their own business and hope they get some help on the out-of-town scoreboard.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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