NHL Game Preview - Anaheim at Edmonton

Sat Apr 1, 2017 10:00 PM EDT

EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Pacific Division race is going to go down to the wire.

Saturday's game between the division-leading Anaheim Ducks and the second-place Edmonton Oilers will go a long way to determining who will be the Pacific champion at season's end.

"It's big," said Edmonton's Connor McDavid, who leads the NHL with 91 points. "Any time we play those guys it's a bit of a rodeo. Should be a fun one here in Edmonton -- a lot on the line."

"It just keeps rolling over," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "As the year dwindles and you're fighting for position and then the playoffs approach, the next one is going to the the biggest one. And then the next one."

The Oilers trail the Ducks by a point in the standings. Each team has five games left on their schedule. To complicate things, the San Jose Sharks are three points back of the Ducks and the Calgary Flames are four points back.

All four teams know they'll be in the playoffs but aren't sure just who they'll be playing or if they'll have home-ice advantage or not.

To say that the Oilers top line of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon is red-hot might be an understatement. McDavid and Draisaitl are on nine-game point-scoring streaks. Maroon scored twice in Thursday's 3-2 win over the Sharks.

As of right now, McDavid has 28 goals, and Maroon and Draisaitl are at 27 each. There's a very realistic chance that the Oilers' top three could all hit 30 goals. Talk about a balanced attack.

But as the Oilers head toward their first visit to the playoffs in 11 years, McLellan said it can't always be about McDavid, Draisaitl and Maroon.

"It's tough to maintain a two- or three-point pace per game and score every night," McLellan said. "So when they're not going to get it done, and there will be those nights, others have to pick it up.

"And there are some chances that are being created by the other lines, but they've just got to find a way to polish it up a little bit and finish a bit more."

The Ducks will be looking to recover from Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss in Winnipeg, which saw the Jets recover from a 3-1 deficit in the third period. The Ducks will try to wipe the slate clean and start fresh in Edmonton.

The Ducks play in Calgary on Sunday, so they can't risk any sort of emotional hangover from the blown lead against the Jets.

"We talked about ups and downs all season long," said Ducks right winger Corey Perry, who has 51 points this season. "This is something where we can't let it continue. We have to nip it right away, go into Edmonton and be ready to play a good hockey team and put this (night) behind us."

"We've got to stay positive here," Ducks goalie Jonathan Bernier said after the Winnipeg loss. "I thought we played a really solid 40 minutes. You don't want to lose, but at the same time, sometimes it's a wake-up call and we've got to refocus for a big week."

Patrick Eaves, who was acquired from the Dallas Stars in late February, has scored five times in the Ducks' last six games. Ryan Getzlaf, though he was held off the scoresheet in the loss to Winnipeg, has eight assists in the last five games.

On Friday, the Ducks assigned left winger Ondrej Kase to their AHL affiliate in San Diego. Kase has 14 points in 51 NHL games this season.

The Ducks also announced the signing of Michigan Tech goalie Angus Redmond. The Langley, British Columbia, native signed a three-year, entry-level deal. He posted a 1.85 goals-against average for Michigan Tech this season.