Yep, here we are...We're at the "must win" games part of the season. The Oilers have 21 games left; 13 at home. They are four points back of a playoff spot in a conference where all 15 teams are still in the race. 14-7 or results equal to 28 standings points is what the Oilers require to be a playoff team. Ugly, but not impossible.

The Oilers are figuring a few things out. For example, they've figured out approaching games with a Top 9 instead of Top 6 makes more sense. The idea at the start of the season was to have two scoring lines. Now, they have three. I'm not sure which of Hartikainen/Nugent-Hopkins/Eberle, Paajarvi/Gagner/Yakupov or Hall/Horcoff/Hemsky could be considered the top unit. Maybe the Triple H line? It certainly has the best two-way skill. It's just nice to see the Oilers with a roster that can get goals from any line.

It sounds likely that Ryan Jones is out with the flu. Mark Fistric will be returning tonight on defense. I'm guessing Ryan Whitney will be kept in, so Corey Potter is the player coming out. Devan Dubnyk will be in goal.

I'd explain what the Oilers need to do to beat the Predators, but I'm not sure myself what the magic formula is. On paper, they have two all-world players in Shea Weber and Pekka Rinne, and the rest is a whole lot of filler. Preds leading scorer Colin Wilson is injured, which causes problems for his team and for my fantasy hockey league. This finally might be the season where the best coach in the world (Barry Trotz) is not enough to get the Predators into the playoffs. There's no offense on this team.

Sadly, you know what that means...the type of hockey the Oilers and their fans find excruciating to watch. Chippy, trappy, mistake-free hockey that lacks any sort of speed or character. Trotz's teams always have robot-like work ethic, sticking to the plan until the bitter, frustratingly dull end. This is exactly the type of team the Oilers lose to. They need to keep their feet moving, draw penalties, and get as many pucks on Rinne. If they fall asleep like they often do, they're dead. This has all the makings of a 2-1 game, and I hate those.

I was working on a different blog today...I'll post it eventually but I want to see how the next two or three games go. The question I asked in it? When should the Oilers pull the plug on the season. If they win tonight, we still don't have the answer. If they can put together a string of wins, maybe they don't need to pull the plug at all. Curse you, trade deadline, for being so fun. I want to see the Oilers make a real deal for once, but it isn't going to happen if the team is still in the playoff hunt eight games from now. At this point I don't even know what to cheer for: Winning, so I can quit being embarrassed of the team, or losing, so the Oilers can make a series of moves they probably should have made a season or two ago.

The real question with Oilers management for this upcoming week isn't trades; it's re-signings. Tambellini and company need to make some decisions, and fast, on guys like Ladislav Smid, Mark Fistric, Ryan Whitney, Ryan Jones and Sam Gagner. Smid in particular is a guy everyone is wondering about. Should the Oilers decide to move him, there would be huge interest. Which, perhaps, also indicates why the Oilers need to keep him. I'll be very interested to see what Oilers management is up to when it comes to deciding who stays and who goes for next season and beyond.

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