{"id":270869,"date":"2026-04-16T14:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/270869\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T14:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:57:10","slug":"avalanche-oilers-ducks-kings-will-learn-playoff-opponents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/270869\/","title":{"rendered":"Avalanche, Oilers, Ducks, Kings will learn playoff opponents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">Welcome to the home stretch of the 2025-26 NHL season. This deep into the schedule, something significant is on the line virtually every day, whether it\u2019s a playoff spot, division title to clinch or a major individual milestone. At Daily Faceoff, we\u2019re breaking down what you need to know every day between now and the end of the season April 16.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">So what\u2019s at stake across the season-ending six-game slate for Thursday, April 16?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u2013 Only two playoff matchups remain to be decided: The top overall Western Conference seed Colorado Avalanche\u2019s opponent and the No. 2 vs. No. 3 Pacific Division seed matchup. How will the <a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" href=\"https:\/\/oilersnation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" hreflang=\"en\">Edmonton Oilers<\/a> (40-30-11), <a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" hreflang=\"en\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyfaceoff.com\/teams\/anaheim-ducks\/line-combinations\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anaheim Ducks<\/a> (42-33-6) and <a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" hreflang=\"en\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyfaceoff.com\/teams\/los-angeles-kings\/line-combinations\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Kings<\/a> (35-26-20) finish on the season\u2019s final night?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u2013 The Oilers clinch second and home ice in Round 1 if (a) they collect even a single point against the Vancouver Canucks or (b) the Kings lose to the Calgary Flames AND the Ducks lose to the Nashville Predators. The Oilers can only drop to the nightmarish second Wildcard spot and earn a date with Colorado if the Oilers lose in regulation AND the Kings and Ducks BOTH win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u2013 If the Ducks beat the Predators AND the Oilers lose in regulation, the Ducks win the No. 2 seed in the Pacific. The Ducks land the No. 3 seed if (a) they beat the Predators, (b) the Kings lose to the Flames in regulation or (C) the Ducks collect a point or more AND the Kings collect a point or fewer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u2013 The only way the Kings can win the Pacific (with 20 loser points!) is if the Oilers lose in regulation AND the Ducks lose in any fashion AND the Kings win. The Kings can secure third if (a) they beat the Flames AND the Oilers lose in regulation; (b) they beat the Flames AND the Ducks lose; or (c) they collect at least a point AND the Ducks lose in regulation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u2013 Mathematically, the most likely outcomes tonight are that the Oilers and Ducks clinch a series against each other while the Kings draw the Avs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u2013 The <a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" href=\"https:\/\/flamesnation.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" hreflang=\"en\">Flames<\/a> (33-39-9) have never picked in the top three of the NHL Draft in their 53-season history. If they get one point or fewer tonight, they will lock in the third-best 2026 <a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" hreflang=\"en\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyfaceoff.com\/news\/2026-nhl-draft-lottery-odds-which-teams-have-best-chance-select-first-overall-mckenna-stenberg-verhoeff\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NHL Draft Lottery Odds<\/a> (which doesn\u2019t guarantee a top-three pick, as a team below them could leapfrog them, but it ups the chances).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u2013 The Oilers\u2019 Connor McDavid, leading the NHL with 134 points, should clinch his sixth career Art Ross Trophy tonight. That will tie him with Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux for the second-most scoring titles all-time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">\u2013 The Avalanche\u2019s Nathan MacKinnon, leading the NHL with 53 goals, should secure his first career Rocket Richard Trophy tonight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">_____<\/p>\n<p>PRESENTED BY STAKE<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"text-secondary underline underline-offset-2\" href=\"https:\/\/stake.com\/?c=CQvzzR7n&amp;offer=nhl200&amp;utm_source=dailyfaceoff&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=cf_dir_ca_display&amp;utm_term=display&amp;utm_content=nhl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" hreflang=\"en\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Stake-Sports-Generic-2_GIF_Version_3-727x404-px.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"w-full\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg\">_____<\/p>\n<p>Recently by Matt Larkin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the home stretch of the 2025-26 NHL season. This deep into the schedule, something significant is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-270869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}