Ducks, Oilers Looking To Secure First Place In Pacific Division, Avoid Golden Knights In First Round

As we hit the home stretch of the NHL’s 2025-26 regular season, the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers are jostling for first place in the Pacific Division. The two teams are currently tied with 87 points apiece, but the Oilers own the tiebreaker. And besides bragging rights, there’s something else very much at stake – a potential first-round Stanley Cup playoff showdown with the Vegas Golden Knights for the team that fails to win top spot in the division.

The Golden Knights sit in third place in the Pacific, and following their 5-1 thrashing over the Oilers last night , they now sit one point back of first place in the Pacific Division. But if the Golden Knights remain in third place, the team that wins the Pacific is almost assuredly going to square off against the team in the first wild card spot – the Utah Mammoth . So it’s easy to see why the Oilers and Ducks will dearly want to avoid the Knights and take on Utah instead.

Although the Golden Knights’ season has seen them fire coach Bruce Cassidy and endure plenty of ups and downs, they remain an experienced NHL team with the structure and talent to beat any team on any given night. Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Mitch Marner, and Shea Theodore are game-breaking talents who can take over a series on their own. Golden Knights Star Mitch Marner Must Improve By The Playoffs What matters most is how Mitch Marner produces in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But his drop in scoring this season should put pressure on him to up his game by the post-season. According to Tankathon , the Ducks have the third-easiest remaining schedule, with just one game against a playoff team: the Minnesota Wild . Anaheim’s remaining five games will be against relatively easy opponents: the Vancouver Canucks , San Jose Sharks , and the Nashville Predators , twice.