The Edmonton Oilers need one victory, or a regulation loss by the Calgary Flames, to officially clinch a playoff spot. It has been inevitable for weeks that the Oilers would make the playoffs, but tonight they can make it official, and they can do so while welcoming Stuart Skinner and Mattias Ekholm back into the lineup.

Skinner hasn’t played since Mikko Rantanen slammed his knee into Skinner’s head on March 26th. He missed seven games with a concussion/sore neck, and he will dress as the backup tonight. The plan is for him to play two of the final three regular season games. Ekholm has missed 13 of the last 17 games, including the past seven. He has been skating for over a week and will likely play three of the final four games. It sounds like they will monitor his minutes tonight. He could start in the third pairing.

Connor McDavid returned to the lineup on Wednesday and picked up three assists. He’d missed the previous eight games with a groin injury, and was a bit rusty early in the game, but as the game went on his explosiveness returned and he terrorized the Blues defenders. The Oilers are getting healthier and they are facing a San Jose Sharks roster facing its own injury issues.

Mario Ferraro broke his ankle in Minnesota and is out for the season. Ferraro has logged the most minutes since Cody Ceci and Jake Walman were traded, and the Sharks’ blue line, which was already banged up with Vincent Desharnais and Shakir Mukhamadullin out, gets even weaker. They allowed eight goals in Minnesota on Wednesday.

The Oilers are slowly getting healthier, and you can expect to see more of their injured players return in the next few games. Walman is expected to play one of the back-to-back games against Winnipeg and LA. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is recovering from his illness and Leon Draisaitl is hoping to play at least one, if not two, games before playoffs begin.

— McDavid needs seven points in the final four games to reach 100 for the eighth time in his career. Only Marcel Dionne (8), Mario Lemieux (10) and Wayne Gretzky (15) have had eight seasons with 100+ points. While some will say scoring 100 points doesn’t matter, I’d argue it does when you consider milestones. It isn’t his main focus, just a nice bonus.

— Knoblauch said Trent Frederic might not be ready for game one of the playoffs but could be ready for game two. It is impossible to get an accurate timeline due to his high ankle sprain. Some take longer than others and re-aggravating it, even when it feels good, happens often.

— Knoblauch gave more of a vague answer when asked about Evander Kane. He believes he will be ready at some point, but wouldn’t commit to if it will be for the start of the postseason.

— After scoring five goals and seven points in four games, Zach Hyman has been pointless in his last six games. They’d like to see him bury a few in the final few games. He needs three goals to reach 30 for the third time in his career.

— Nugent-Hopkins needs one point in the final three games to reach 50 points for the ninth time in his career. If you are curious, Oilers players with more seasons with 50+ points include Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier (11), Draisaitl and Jari Kurri (10). McDavid and Gretzky have nine.

— Darnell Nurse and Paul Coffey are the only Oilers D-men to have seven seasons with 30+ points.

— The Oilers’ defenders have combined to score 39 goals. They had 39 in 2022 and 2023 and had 48 last year. They were seventh in 2022, 14th in 2023, second last year and are currently fifth this season in goals. They are sixth in points with 183.

Forward lines remain the same after Wednesday’s victory over St. Louis. The D pairs will change during the game. Knoblauch would like to limit Ekholm’s minutes and don’t be surprised to see Bouchard and Nurse play together at times.

Macklin Celebrini had his first hat trick and five-point game in the 8-7 in Minnesota on Wednesday. He and Will Smith are the future of San Jose, and both are skilled. But the Sharks need a major upgrade on their blue line in the off-season. The Oilers should have no shortage of chances tonight.

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers win 5-2.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: McDavid has another big night and picks up at least three points.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Ty Emberson scores his first goal of the season.