{"id":598856,"date":"2026-04-12T09:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T09:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/598856\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T09:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T09:48:11","slug":"edmonton-oilers-officially-clinch-berth-into-2026-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/598856\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton Oilers officially clinch berth into 2026 playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes you need a little help crossing the finish line.<\/p>\n

The Edmonton Oilers<\/a> are officially in the dance and have clinched a playoff spot on Saturday night. Despite losing 1-0<\/a> to the Los Angeles Kings in the afternoon, the Winnipeg Jets\u2019 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers means the Oilers get a \u201cx\u201d beside their name in the standings.<\/p>\n

This is the sixth straight season the Oilers have made the playoffs, and seventh if you include the qualifier round in the 2020 bubble.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a topsy-turvy grind of a year, with the Oilers battling inconsistent play and a variety of injuries down the stretch. Despite losing Leon Draisaitl<\/a> for the rest of the regular season back on March 15, Edmonton found elements of their game, with more focused defensive efforts.<\/p>\n

They boast an 8-4-1 record despite missing their second-leading scorer, with a legitimate shot at winning the Pacific Division still in grasp. Edmonton holds the tiebreaker on both the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks heading into the final week of the season, and remain one point up on both despite their loss.<\/p>\n

The results of these last games will determine the Oilers\u2019 first-round opponent. If Edmonton wins the division, their first since 1986-87, they\u2019d likely host the Utah Mammoth, the top wildcard team in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

Vegas plays Colorado on Saturday night as of publication time, and if they win, they\u2019d leapfrog Edmonton for first.<\/p>\n

The Oilers still have two games<\/a> remaining in the regular season, which they\u2019ll finish out at home. Edmonton welcomes Colorado to Rogers Place on Monday night before punctuating the 2025-26 regular season against Vancouver on Thursday night.EDM schedule: COL, VANVGK schedule: WPG, SEAANA schedule: VAN, MIN, NSH<\/p>\n

In the near term, the Oilers hope to get Zach Hyman back into the lineup after missing this three game road trip. Leon Draisaitl\u2019s return to the lineup isn\u2019t precisely known.<\/p>\n

Max Jones went down in the first period from injury, after the Oilers lost Jason Dickinson on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He\u2019s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Nation Playoff Draft Party \u2014 Team Sign-Up Now Open\"\"<\/a>Edmonton hockey fans \u2014 think you and your crew know playoff hockey? Prove it at the\u00a0Nation Playoff Draft Party\u00a0on\u00a0Friday, April 17th at the River Cree Resort & Casino.\u00a0Build your playoff roster, compete against other teams throughout the postseason, and battle for\u00a0$2,500 cash and Nation bragging rights.\u00a0Team entry is\u00a0$1,000 for groups of 8, which includes dinner and your first bevy. The night will be hosted by\u00a0Ryder & Lisa from The Sauce\u00a0and\u00a0Tyler & Liam from ON Everyday, so expect plenty of energy, competition, and chirps.\u00a0Spots are limited \u2014 sign your team up now at\u00a0nationgear.ca<\/a>.\u00a0All proceeds from the event support\u00a0KidSport Edmonton, helping ensure local kids can stay in the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes you need a little help crossing the finish line. The Edmonton Oilers are officially in the dance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-598856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}