Mathematically, the Edmonton Oilers still have a chance to gain home-ice advantage in their opening-round series vs. the Los Angeles Kings, but it is an extremely small chance.

Edmonton has to defeat LA, in regulation tonight, then win in San Jose on Wednesday, and they need LA to then lose both of their remaining games in Seattle and at home vs. Calgary. Possible, sure, but highly unlikely.

The Oilers are more focused on continuing to play well. Despite the rash of injuries to key players, the Oilers are 6-2 in their last eight games, and they’ve been very good defensively.

They’ve allowed 17 goals, and one empty net goal, in those eight games while only allowing 24.5 shots/game. They’ve also reduced their odd-man rush chances and high-danger chances against at 5×5. The Oilers are a dangerous team when they are solid defensively. Offence isn’t an issue. In their last 11 games, Leon Draisaitl has only played three and Connor McDavid has played four, but the team is still 7-4 and many others have stepped up offensively.

Evan Bouchard has 13 points. Adam Henrique has nine, Darnell Nurse has seven and Corey Perry has 3-3-6. Connor Brown got promoted to play with McDavid and has five goals. Viktor Arvidsson has five goals as well. Offence has never been an issue for the Oilers, and even without Mattias Ekholm (he played two games and 1:52 in another), the Oilers team defence has been solid. The Oilers proved last regular season and, in the playoffs, then can be a sound defensive team, and over the past few weeks we have started to see that again.

Despite the solid play, I wouldn’t read too much into tonight as the Oilers roster tonight will look much different than the one they use on opening night. You will likely see seven players not playing tonight, who will be in the lineup for Game 1 vs. LA.

—  Connor McDavid won’t play tonight. The Oilers are being cautious according to Kris Knoblauch. They see no need to play McDavid three games in four nights. McDavid’s recent play shows there is no rust in his game. He scored nine points in three games after being out for three weeks. I’d expect to see McDavid play Wednesday in San Jose. He likes getting into a rhythm and he needs one point to reach 100 points for the eighth time in his career. He can play 15-18 minutes in San Jose.

— Evander Kane spoke for the first time today. He said he is very close to playing. He feels much better than he did last year when he played. “We are really close (to playing), and we worked really hard to not have any setbacks through this process,” said Kane. “I’m happy how everything has gone in my recovery and if you ask me if I’m ready for Game 1, I could barely skate and played in the playoffs last year, so if you are comparing now to last year, I’m ready to go.” All things are pointing to Kane being ready for Game 1 vs. LA.

— Leon Draisaitl, Jake Walman, Zach Hyman and Troy Stecher won’t play tonight. All are expected to be ready for the playoffs. The Oilers are being cautious. Some of them might play Wednesday in San Jose, while others won’t return until the playoffs.

— Trent Frederic is on track to be available at some point in the LA series. Knoblauch wouldn’t confirm it will be the first game but did say he expects him to play in the series.

— Quinn Hutson signed a two-year ELC on the weekend. The free agent just finished his third season at Boston  University and he scored 50 points in 38 regular season games. He will play tonight and likely Wednesday in San Jose. He isn’t eligible to play in the playoffs, as he wasn’t on the Oilers reserve list (signed or a draft pick) at the trade deadline. Hutson will burn the first year of his ELC by playing tonight, which is part of the negotiation. I don’t see it being a big issue for the Oilers. The most important thing is to get good young players without trading for them. He’s a free asset essentially. I expect he will start next season in the AHL, which is fine as over 80% of NHL players play in the AHL at some point.

— With Stecher injured and Hutson signed, the Oilers had to reassign Noah Philp and Derek Ryan to Bakersfield to get under the salary cap. Those three along with McDavid played in Winnipeg last night, but won’t play tonight, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Hutson and Josh Brown will play. Brown was recalled so the Oilers can have six D-men dressed. They didn’t want to play five D-men for the third time in four games.

— I’ve seen some debate about it, but unless there is an injury, Stuart Skinner will be the starter in Game 1 vs. LA.

The line combinations and defence pairings are just a projection as the Oilers didn’t practice this morning. The Oilers are used to playing with different linemates and D partners quite often, and that could benefit them in the playoffs.

Drew Doughty was injured playing the Oilers on April 5th. He left in the third period, and it looked like a hip/groin issue. He hasn’t played since, but he will play tonight.  Joel Edmundson was injured in the same game. Unlike Doughty, Emberson finished the game, but he also hasn’t played since and won’t play tonight.

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers lose 3-2

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: It is a low-event game, in terms of scoring chances.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Hutson picks up a point in his first NHL game.