(Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

With less than ten games to go, the Edmonton Oilers are facing the wrong side of the playoff cut.

Two very winnable games against Phoenix and Minnesota saw the Oilers cough up the lead early and never recover.

The game against the Coyotes was particularly bad.  The failure of the team to win those games means that tonight's game against the Anaheim Ducks is basically a must win.

The Ducks sit in seventh.  They are only a point ahead, so a win would vault the Oilers back into the playoffs.

In their final nine games the Oilers play the Ducks twice, Minnesota, and Los Angeles.  However, they also play San Jose, Vancouver, and Calgary (a home and home series).

If the Oilers are on the fringe of the playoffs when they meet Calgary twice they will be in big trouble.  The Flames and the Oilers will likely split the series, as they did earlier in the year.  

It will be a fascinating dance to see if the Oilers can beat the out-of-town score board as well as their competition.  Then in the playoffs they will get the gift of meeting one of the teams they knocked out to make the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006.

If I was in the Oilers management I would be very concerned.

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