Red Wings to Face Oilers in First Round

The Detroit Red Wings will face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Edmonton had been battling with the Colorado Avalanche for the seventh seed in the Western Conference but the Avalanche earned a point in their overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, lifting two points ahead of the Oilers.

Edmonton and Colorado face off against each other on Monday but the most the Oilers can do is tie the Avalanche for points; Colorado holds the tiebreaker with more wins than Edmonton.

The Red Wings have never beaten the Oilers in a playoff series. The two teams met in the Campbell Conference Finals in 1987 and 1988 with the Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers picking up 4-1 series victories each time.

Combined with San Jose’s win over Anaheim earlier in the night, it means that two of the conference’s four matchups have been determined. The Sharks locked up the fifth seed, meaning that they will be hosted by the Nashville Predators.

The Avalanche are now one point behind the Mighty Ducks and hold the tiebreaker over them with one game remaining for each team.