The Oilers haven't had a shot at the Golden Knights since a 4-3 win back on Jan. 14, but will go head-to-head with them twice in the next four days. As much as the focus around tonight's matchup will be on the chance to gain ground in the division standings, the overarching emphasis for the Oilers is fine tuning their game prior to the start of the playoffs.
"It's (the divisional matchup) had no effect on that. We go into every game with the mindset of winning that game," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We understand the macro picture of what's happening in the league, and specifically in our Pacific Division, it feels like everyone wins every night. But for us, our focus, as it has been all along is on our game and our team taking care of our details and taking care of our habits so that we're ready when Game 83 comes around. We think if you concentrate on your own process the results, positioning and standings, all that stuff takes care of itself."
One way for the Oilers to help refine their game and their process before the regular season ends, is treating every contest as if it was a playoff game. Edmonton has half their games remaining against teams they are likely to face in the playoffs and will have the opportunity to see how their game matches up against their Conference's best.
"Looking at it from my point of view, I look at this game as a playoff game. Just like when we play Seattle, just like when we play LA, when we play Winnipeg. Any team that's in a playoff spot, is a playoff game to me right now, just because you never know if you are going to face them in a series," Stuart Skinner said. "Being able to play them, play them hard, and play them the right way, I think is very important. It's going to be a big game tonight. They're obviously doing a great job, but so are we and we've been playing some really good hockey and it'll be a fun game to watch. It'll be a fun game to play night tonight."
The Oilers rode the wave of a red-hot finish to their season, into the postseason last year, and it resulted in a Western Conference Final appearance. It's a template that Edmonton is looking to replicate this time around.
"I think it comes down to habits and having your team game together and you build throughout the course of the season to get to that point. Once game 83 hits, every team is kind of in the same boat," Nurse said. "The game definitely tightens up. There's not as many chances for and you try to limit the chances against. For us, it's a big test especially a few of them in our own division and from the standpoint of going out there and it gives you that playoff feel too. You're making adjustments on the go on the fly as you see a team a little more frequently in the week.