Connor Ingram will start for the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place, with Zach Hyman expected back in the lineup as Edmonton tries to lock up home-ice advantage in the First Round.
A single point would be enough for the Oilers to secure that edge and set up Game 1 at Rogers Place on Monday against either Los Angeles or Anaheim. A defeat, though, could push them into a road start for the series or drop them to the second Wild Card, which would send them into a Sunday start against the Colorado Avalanche.
Ingram is scheduled for his fifth start in seven games this month, a sign of how much Edmonton has leaned on him down the stretch. The goalie said the stakes make this feel different from an ordinary finish. “I think we always say there are a lot of games that feel like playoff games, but there's nothing really that is this close,” he said. “So I think this is a better situation than having 10 games of coasting to get to the end. But playoffs are just a different animal.”
The Oilers are coming in after scoring one goal or fewer in their last three games, a skid that has put more pressure on a group trying to find its form at the exact moment the standings are tightening. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said the focus is simple: “So our goal is to win a hockey game and finish as high as we can.” He also pointed to the value of securing home ice, saying, “I think home ice, it does play a factor in the playoffs, and going against the best team in the league in the first round is a tough task.”
The urgency is shaped in part by recent history. The Canucks pushed Edmonton to Game 7 in the 2024 Second Round, and Vancouver enters Thursday on three straight victories. The Oilers, meanwhile, are treating the finale like a playoff game, coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I think most of the time, usually that last game decides you're seeding somewhere,” he said. “But I think it's for us, it's important that we're playing competitive hockey, playing the right way, and treating this like a playoff game.”
Knoblauch added that there is some value in the pressure of a meaningful finish instead of a dead rubber. “Maybe it'd be nice to be able to rest some guys and not run the risk of somebody getting banged up, but the flip side of it is that we're just not taking a step back. We're just continuing to build on our game,” he said. Nugent-Hopkins agreed that the timing can help rather than hurt. “I think this can definitely work as a positive,” he said. “You always want to find your game approaching the playoffs, and right now, we have no choice but to do that.”
Thursday is Edmonton’s regular-season finale, and it carries the kind of consequence teams usually spend weeks trying to create. One point changes the bracket. Two points could keep the Oilers at Rogers Place for Game 1. Zero could send them somewhere far less forgiving.