The Edmonton Oilers can secure their spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Friday night for the second time in as many games.
While it may be a little later than some had hoped, the team can clinch in one of two ways as the San Jose Sharks roll into town.
The first scenario is by the Oilers getting at least one point vs. the Sharks, while the second would come if the Calgary Flames lose to the Minnesota Wild in any fashion. Edmonton will be able to control their own fate with it, given their game — set to start at 7:30 pm MT — is 30 minutes before the Flames and Wild kick-off.
Minnesota, meanwhile, can clinch their playoff spot if they defeat the Flames in any fashion.
If/when the Oilers do earn their berth into the post-season, it will mark their sixth straight year doing so — making it their longest consecutive stretch of seasons making the playoffs since they made the post-season in 13 straight years after entering the NHL in 1979-80. As it stands, their five straight playoff berths tie the franchise’s second-longest streak, tying a run between 1996-97 and 2000-01.
The Oilers have made it much deeper in the playoffs in these five most recent playoffs than the other stretch. While they made it out of the first round in each of the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons, they were bounced in the first round of each of the other three.
Over the last five years the Oilers were bounced in the qualifying round of the 2019-20 playoffs and the first round of the 2020-21 postseason, before making it to the Western Conference Finals in 2021-22, getting swept in four games by the eventual Stanley Cup winning Colorado Avalanche. Edmonton didn’t fare well in the 2022-23 playoffs, beating the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, but falling to the Cup winning Vegas Golden Knights in six games. The Oilers earned a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals last year for the first time since the 2005-06 season, losing 2-1 in Game 7 to the Florida Panthers.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.
