Oilers to rest top seven scorers vs. Avalanche

There will be plenty of new faces on the ice for the Edmonton Oilers when they take on the Colorado Avalanche Thursday.

The Oilers will rest their seven top scorers for their final game of the season, per head coach Kris Knoblauch.

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mattias Ekholm and Evander Kane will all get the night off as the Oilers play it safe ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Edmonton is already locked in as the Pacific Division’s No. 2 seed, but its opponent is still to be decided. The Oilers will face either the Vegas Golden Knights or the Los Angeles Kings depending on which team finishes third in the Pacific.

Both teams will take the ice Thursday, with the Golden Knights hosting the Anaheim Ducks and the Kings facing the Chicago Blackhawks.

Per the NHL, the clinching scenarios for the No. 3 seed in the Pacific are as follows:

• Vegas will clinch if they defeat the Ducks in any fashion.

• Vegas will clinch if they earn one point against the Ducks and the Kings lose to the Blackhawks in regulation.

• Vegas will clinch if the Kings lose to the Blackhawks in regulation.

• Los Angeles will clinch if they defeat the Blackhawks in any fashion and the Golden Knights lose to the Ducks in any fashion.

• Los Angeles will clinch if they get one point against the Blackhawks and the Golden Knights lose to the Ducks in regulation.

The standings currently see the Kings sitting one point back of the Golden Knights, though Los Angeles holds the first tiebreaker due to having more regulation wins this season.

You can watch the Oilers’ regular season finale live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet + starting at 9:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. MT.