If the playoffs began today, the Edmonton Oilers would be in.
Edmonton moved up a notch with a 3-2 overtime win against the Boston Bruins on Monday.
Yes, the Pacific is lousy. There are indeed red flags all over the place, with four of those six wins coming beyond regulation (when things tend to get a little ... zany).
And, sure, there is a logjam after the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific:
2. Arizona Coyotes: 14-14-2, 30 points
3. Edmonton Oilers: 14-15-2, 30 points
4. Vancouver Canucks: 11-12-8, 30 points
5. San Jose Sharks: 14-14-1, 29 points
6. Calgary Flames: 13-14-2, 28 points
7. Anaheim Ducks: 11-13-5, 27 points
You know what? The Oilers or at least their fans would probably respond with a shrug and “Who cares?”
Sure, Cam Talbot bailed Edmonton out tonight with a career-high 47 saves. On the other hand, Talbot - a guy who’s been a disappointment to say the least - was the guy bailing him out. Even some of the “Yeah, but ...” responses are fairly positive for the Oilers.
"We know that we stole one tonight. Our goaltender played a tremendous game." Coach McLellan on #Oilers OT win pic.twitter.com/UfVd2w0l7c
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 15, 2015
The plus side of those Pacific rankings is that Edmonton’s that close to having home-ice advantage for a round of playoff action. They’ve managed to do so with Connor McDavid on the shelf, too.
With five of their next six games coming on the road and a foreboding schedule in general, things could fall apart soon enough.
Still, how many people expected Edmonton to be here considering how bad things looked in November?