Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers now have just 10 games remaining on their 2025-26 regular season schedule, and they remain in a tight battle for playoff berths.
Related: Breaking Down the Oilers’ Remaining Schedule
With 79 points from a record of 35-28-9, Edmonton currently sits second place in the Pacific Division, five points back of the division-leading Anaheim Ducks (40-27-4). The Oilers lead the third-place Vegas Golden Knights (32-26-14) by one point and are five points in front of the fourth-place Los Angeles Kings (28-25-18).
Given the Oilers’ position in the standings, every one of their remaining games is of great importance, but four stand out in particular. Here’s a look:
March 26 at Golden Knights and April 4 vs. Golden Knights
In a span of just nine days, the Oilers and Golden Knights will meet for a pair of games that could very well decide which team finishes ahead of the other.
Not only does Edmonton lead Vegas by one point, but the Oilers also currently hold the edge in the first tiebreaker, which is regulation wins (27-24). Suffice to say, if the Oilers win both of these games in regulation, Vegas is going to have a hard time catching them.
Recent history favours the Oilers. too: Edmonton is already two-for-two against the Golden Knights this season, winning 4-3 at home on Dec. 21 and 4-2 in Las Vegas on March 8. Including the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Edmonton eliminated Vegas in five games in the second round, the Oilers have won eight of their last nine meetings with the Golden Knights.
Moreover, the Golden Knights are in a bit of a freefall, with a record of 5-10-0 since returning from the Olympic break, and only three wins in their last 10 outings.
March 28 vs. Ducks
If the Oilers are going to overtake Anaheim and finish atop the division standings for the first time since 1987, they likely need to win this Saturday matinee at Rogers Place.
While Edmonton currently holds the regulation wins tiebreaker over Anaheim (27-24), the Ducks have 11 games left to play compared to only 10 for the Oilers. Anaheim also has the third-easiest remaining strength of schedule (.509) in the entire NHL.
These teams have split their first two meetings this season, with both being high-scoring affairs: Mattias Ekholm scored a hat trick as Edmonton topped Anaheim 7-4 at Rogers Place on Jan. 26, before the Ducks defeated the Oilers 6-5 at Honda Center on Feb. 25 in the first post-Olympic break game for both teams.
The surging Ducks have the highest point percentage in the Western Conference over the last two months, with a record of 19-6-1. They’re 8-4-0 on the road during that stretch.
April 11 at Kings
It wouldn’t be April without a massive game between the Oilers and Kings. These two historic rivals have faced each other in the first round of the playoffs each of the last four years, and it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that it happens again in 2026 if the Kings can sneak into second or third in the Pacific Division.
Los Angeles currently has one more game to play than both Edmonton and Vegas, but with only 18 regulation wins, the Kings lose the tiebreaker to the teams ahead of them.
The Kings, however, have the league’s easiest remaining strength of schedule (.478), so it’s not inconceivable they can get themselves in position to overtake the Oilers by the time their head-to-head meeting rolls around on April 11. Following this matchup at Crypto.com Arena, Edmonton will have two games left to play, while the Kings will have three.
A lot will happen between then and now, beginning with the NHL’s loaded 13-game slate tonight (March 26), which includes the Ducks visiting the Calgary Flames, Los Angeles being hosted by the Vancouver Canucks, and, of course, the Oilers and Golden Knights squaring off at T-Mobile Arena.
