Edmonton Oilers @ Arizona Coyotes
Start time: 10:00 PM EDT / 7:00 PM PDT
In Canada: Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Coyotes region: Scripps Sports
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet
The Montreal’s Canadiens’ season is done, but there’s still one more order of business to complete before the NHL regular-season campaign comes to a close: the final standings that will determine draft lottery odds. With a five-game point streak to end the season, the Canadiens ended up with 76 points, with last night’s shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings placing them one point up on the Arizona Coyotes. If the Coyotes earn one point in tonight’s season-closer with the Edmonton Oilers, they will retake their spot at 27th in the standings, locking the Habs into the fifth-best odds for the lottery, which is usually held ahead of the second round of the post-season.
The Coyotes have a great deal of incentive to make this happen. This is the last game the club will play in Arizona before making what appears to be an all-but-official move to Utah for the 2024-25 season. Mullett Arena, the league’s smallest arena by a significant margin, will be seeing its last ever NHL game. It’s a small but loud arena, and you can expect the energy to be at its peak for this game.
As far as Edmonton is concerned, there is no incentive for any type of result. They can’t catch Vancouver ahead of them in the Pacific Division, nor can their second seed be snatched by the Vegas Golden Knights. But they do want to go into the playoffs playing well, and with that in mind they’ve opted to dress as full a lineup as they can manage for their penultimate game of the year.
