There are a little over two weeks left before the end of the 2025-26 season, and the division is up for grabs between the Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, and Vegas Golden Knights. Three other Pacific Division teams are in the mix for a wild card spot, while the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks will battle for the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes.

This is What’s Going On In the Pacific Division, the weekly article where we look at how teams from the division fared, as well as setting up what’s next for all eight teams.

Anaheim Ducks

Last Thursday, it looked as if the Anaheim Ducks had a firm grasp of the Pacific Division, as they had a five point lead over the Edmonton Oilers and a six point lead over the Vegas Golden Knights with an additional game remaining.

How quickly things changed. They kicked off their week with a 3-2 overtime win over the Calgary Flames, but their comeback bid against the Oilers fell short, a four point swing. They were able to salvage a point in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring a late goal and losing 5-4 in overtime, but blew a late lead to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday to lose 4-3 in regulation.

Now with two weeks left this season, the Ducks have 87 points and seven games remaining, just two points ahead of the Oilers who have the tiebreaker. The good news for the Ducks is their schedule is fairly easy, hosting the St. Louis Blues on Friday, the Calgary Flames on Saturday, and the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, three winnable games.

Calgary Flames

It was a pretty tough week for the Flames, who sit near the bottom of the league in points. They finished up their homestand with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks, then beat the Vancouver Canucks 7-3 to finish their homestand 5-0-1. Then they hit the road and lost 9-2 to the Colorado Avalanche, with Nazem Kadri scoring twice in that game.

That was the first of six on the road, where they’ve been awful this year. First up is a game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, then the Ducks on Saturday. They’ll wrap up this week with a game against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

Edmonton Oilers

For the first time this season, the Edmonton Oilers actually look good. They defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in overtime on Thursday, then picked up a crucial two points against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Coming into that game, they were 1-9-2 when they had an opportunity for a three-game win streak. They won four consecutive games for the first time this season with a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken.

With 85 points, they sit two back of the Anaheim Ducks with seven games remaining, albeit with the tiebreaker (29 regulation wins to 24). Here’s a funny fact, the Oilers haven’t won their division since 1986-87, the longest drought in not just the National Hockey League, but all four North American sports.

Anyway, they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday and the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. They’ll then hit the road to play the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday and the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.

Los Angeles Kings

There’s a remote chance the first round will feature a battle between the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings for the fifth consecutive year. First, the Kings have to get there. They defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 on Thursday, but lost 6-2 to the Utah Mammoth on Saturday. On Wednesday, the Kings got back in the win column with a 2-1 overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Kings occupy the final wild card spot thanks to 78 points, four behind the Vegas Golden Knights for third in the Pacific Division. The Kings will be at home all week, hosting the Nashville Predators on Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, and the Predators again on Monday.

San Jose Sharks

One point outside of the final wild card spot are the San Jose Sharks, who have a game in hand over the Kings. The streaky Sharks had a good week, falling 2-1 in overtime to the St. Louis Blues, but responding with a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, a 5-4 win over the Blues, and a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

That last win was an important one, as the Sharks were down by a goal with less than two minutes back, but Macklin Celebrini scored his 40th of the season to tie it, then Alexander Wennberg scored with 31 seconds left to win it.

This week, the Sharks host the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Nashville Predators, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Edmonton Oilers. Starting this week, they play a back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday for the remainder of the season.

Seattle Kraken

The Seattle Kraken’s playoff hopes are slowly dimming, as they are 3-5-2 in their last 10, giving them 75 points. They’ve played one fewer game than the Los Angeles Kings, but need to jump over five teams. This past week didn’t help all that much, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in overtime, but then falling 3-2 in a shootout to the Buffalo Sabres and falling 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers.

They’ll return home for two games this week, hosting the Utah Mammoth on Thursday and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, before hitting the road for a back-to-back against the surging Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild on Monday and Tuesday.

Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks are still the worst team in hockey, losing 4-0 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, 7-3 to the Calgary Flames on Saturday, and 4-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. That said, they played one of the funniest games of the season, pulling out an 8-6 victory over the Colorado Avalanche after blowing a 6-2 lead. Sure.

Their 52 points are the fewest in the league by a wide margin, as the Chicago Blackhawks have 68 points and the Flames have 70 points. This week won’t be any easier, facing the Minnesota Wild on the road on Thursday, while hosting the Utah Mammoth on Saturday and the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

Vegas Golden Knights

Speaking of the Vegas Golden Knights, they fired their head coach Bruce Cassidy on Mar. 29, replacing him with John Tortorella. It was a bold move with just eight games left on the schedule, but the 2023 Stanley Cup Champions were just 1-4-2 over their last seven games, including a 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers and a 5-4 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals.

In Tortorella’s first game behind the bench, the Golden Knights defeated the Vancouver Canucks, which was to be expected. They have a fairly light schedule ahead, hosting the Calgary Flames on Thursday before hitting the road to take on the Edmonton Oilers and Canucks to finish the week.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

Sponsored by bet365:

Editorials

Recent articles from Ryley Delaney

What’s Going On In the Pacific Division: The race for the division winner will come down to the wire

Flames prospect roundup: Axel Hurtig’s Hitmen win Games 1 and 2 in overtime

NCAA tournament day 4 recap: Denver soundly defeats Western Michigan to head to Frozen Four