EDMONTON OILERS vs COLORADO AVALANCHE
When: 9:00 PM  ET, Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

TV: 9:00 PM
LINE: 0
PREDICTION: COLORADO , EDMONTON

Oddsmakers currently have the EDMONTON listed as 130-moneyline favorites versus the COLORADO, while the game’s total is sitting at 6.

The Edmonton Oilers appear to be a different team under coach Ken Hitchcock as they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. Edmonton defeated Calgary 1-0 on Sunday for its third straight victory and sixth in the last seven games, and is 7-2-1 – 6-0-1 in one-goal contests – since Hitchcock took over from Todd McLellan on Nov. 20.

“It’s a one-goal league, it always has been, and you have to find a way to win these tight games,” Edmonton captain Connor McDavid told reporters after scoring Sunday. “We’ve been doing a good job to find a way to end up on the right side of the score.” Colorado plays five of its next six at home after a 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday capped a 2-2-0 road trip. The Avalanche won the first of three meetings this season 4-1 in Edmonton on Nov. 11, starting an 10-2-2 run that vaulted Colorado into a first-place tie with Nashville in the Central Division and halting the Oilers’ six-game point streak in the series (5-0-1). McDavid was kept off the scoresheet in that contest after recording seven goals and 15 points in his first eight games against the Avalanche.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), Altitude (Colorado)

ABOUT THE OILERS (16-12-2): McDavid, the two-time reigning Art Ross Trophy winner, was fourth in the league entering Monday with 41 points after compiling 18 (six goals) in the last 12 games while pointless in only one contest during that span. Mikko Koskinen, 30, whose only NHL experience prior to this season was four games with the New York Islanders in 2010-11, has outplayed Cam Talbot in goal. Koskinen, though, is 6-0-0 with a 0.91 goals-against average and .970 save percentage in seven home games but 3-3-1, 3.17, .889 in seven road contests while Talbot is 3-4-1, 3.52, .885 at home and 4-5-0, 2.79, .904 away from home.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (17-8-5): Nathan MacKinnon scored his team-high 20th goal Saturday, joining Joe Sakic (1995-96) as the only players in club history to record 20 goals in the first 30 games and giving him the second-most points in the league entering Monday with 45. Mikko Rantanen has five goals and 14 assists during an 11-game point streak and leads the NHL with 48 points and 36 assists. The line of MacKinnon, Rantanen and captain Gabriel Landeskog (17 goals, 34 points) is responsible for 45.4 percent of the team’s goals and 43.6 percent of its points.

OVERTIME

1. Colorado, which owns the league’s top power-play unit at 30.2 percent, hasn’t scored with the man advantage in its last two games – the first time this season it hasn’t scored one in consecutive contests.

2. Edmonton is 0-for-17 on the power play in its last five games while the Avalanche have killed only 7-of-11 penalties over the past three contests.

3. Colorado C Carl Soderberg (10) is the only other Avalanche player with double-digit goals while F Colin Wilson and LW J.T. Compher have seven apiece.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 3, Oilers 2

The post EDMONTON vs COLORADO NHL Odds, Pick & Preview appeared first on IdealCapper.

MINNESOTA WILD vs EDMONTON OILERS
When: 9:00 PM  ET, Friday, December 7, 2018
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

TV: 9:05 PM
LINE:
PREDICTION: EDMONTON , MINNESOTA

Oddsmakers currently have the MINNESOTA listed as 305 moneyline favorites versus the EDMONTON, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.5.

The Edmonton Oilers hope to extend their home winning streak to four games when they host the Minnesota Wild on Friday. Each of the Oilers’ victories during its run at Rogers Place have been by one goal, including Saturday’s 2-1 triumph over Vegas.

Edmonton, which has gone 5-2-1 under new coach Ken Hitchcock, recorded a 3-2 shootout victory Wednesday at St. Louis in which captain Connor McDavid scored the decisive goal in the third round of the bonus format after setting up defenseman Oscar Klefbom’s tying tally with 56 seconds remaining in the third period. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who also scored in the triumph, has recorded each of his last three goals on the road. Minnesota has split the first two contests of its three-game trek, posting a 3-2 win at Vancouver on Tuesday before suffering a 2-0 setback in Calgary two nights later. The loss to the Flames was the Wild’s fourth defeat in five overall games and third in four road contests.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS North, FS Wisconsin (Minnesota), Sportsnet West (Edmonton)

ABOUT THE WILD (15-11-2): Alex Stalock appeared in his 100th game on Thursday, becoming the seventh Minnesota-born goaltender to accomplish the feat. The 31-year-old is the first to do so since 1995-96, when fellow St. Paul native Damian Rhodes reached the century mark while with Ottawa. Zach Parise, who leads the team with 13 goals, has not gone back-to-back contests without a tally since enduring a three-game drought from Oct. 25-29.

ABOUT THE OILERS (14-12-2): Cam Talbot registered his 100th victory with the team on Wednesday, joining Grant Fuhr (226), Bill Ranford (176), Tommy Salo (147) and Andy Moog (143) as the only goaltenders in franchise history to reach the plateau. The triumph over the Blues was Talbot’s first since Oct. 28 at Chicago, ending the 31-year-old’s six-game losing streak. McDavid has notched at least one point in nine of his last 10 contests and is eight away from 300 for his career.

OVERTIME

1. Klefbom has scored all three of his goals on the season over his last five games.

2. Minnesota went 0-for-5 on the power play Thursday after cashing in on all three of its opportunities against Vancouver.

3. Edmonton placed Drake Caggiula (hand) on injured reserve, activated fellow LW Valentin Zykov and recalled C Cooper Marody from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League.

PREDICTION: Oilers 3, Wild 2

The post MINNESOTA vs EDMONTON NHL Odds, Pick & Preview appeared first on IdealCapper.

EDMONTON OILERS vs FLORIDA PANTHERS
When: 7:00 PM  ET, Thursday, November 8, 2018
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida

TV: 7:05 PM
LINE: 0
PREDICTION: FLORIDA , EDMONTON

Oddsmakers currently have the EDMONTON listed as 115-moneyline favorites versus the FLORIDA, while the game’s total is sitting at 6.

The Edmonton Oilers look to finish their four-game road trip with a .500 record and extend their winning streak at the Florida Panthers to 10 when the teams meet Thursday night. The Oilers won the opener of their trek at Detroit before dropping back-to-back contests at Washington (4-2 on Monday) and Tampa Bay (5-2 on Tuesday), but have not lost against the Panthers on the road since March 8, 2002.

Two-time reigning NHL scoring champion Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet for the second time in 13 games this season in Tuesday’s loss and Edmonton could not finish several prime opportunities. “We need to bear down a little bit, especially me more than anyone,” Oilers center Leon Draisaitl told reporters. “I didn’t think we played terrible or bad by any means, but it’s something we can look at and try to get better from.” The Panthers have not played since Friday, when they finished off a split with Winnipeg with a 4-2 victory in the two-game NHL Global Series at Helsinki, Finland. Forward Evgenii Dadonov leads Florida with 13 points and has at least one in eight straight games while teammate Mike Hoffman boasts a nine-game point streak that includes six goals.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), FS Florida

ABOUT THE OILERS (8-6-1): Ryan Nugent-Hopkins notched his third assist in two games Tuesday to push his team-leading total to 14 and Draisaitl scored his ninth goal – one behind McDavid – against the Lightning for his eighth point in the past seven contests. Right wing Ty Rattie returned to the lineup after missing nine games with an upper-body injury, skating with McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins, while center Ryan Strome finally netted his first goal of the season Tuesday. Forward Alex Chiasson, who had scored in three of his previous four games, sat out the game in Tampa Bay with an undisclosed injury.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (3-5-3): Goalie Roberto Luongo returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a knee injury on opening night and made 32 saves for his 472nd career victory Friday in Helsinki. “That was huge for us,” Florida coach Bob Boughner told reporters. “Watching (Luongo) play so composed after being off for a month, he is a big reason why we won (the last game).” Defenseman Keith Yandle has five points in the last four games and 12 overall to place second on the team while captain Aleksander Barkov has gone seven games without a goal, but recorded six assists in that stretch.

OVERTIME

1. Edmonton LW Milan Lucic was fined $10,000 after his misconduct penalty Tuesday.

2. Florida C Derek MacKenzie, who has not played since opening night, underwent shoulder surgery recently and is out indefinitely.

3. The Oilers have won four of the last five meetings overall and the road team has taken seven of the last eight encounters.

PREDICTION: Panthers 4, Oilers 3

The post EDMONTON vs FLORIDA NHL Odds, Pick & Preview appeared first on IdealCapper.

EDMONTON OILERS vs TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
When: 7:30 PM  ET, Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida

TV: 7:35 PM
LINE: 0
PREDICTION: TAMPA BAY , EDMONTON

Oddsmakers currently have the EDMONTON listed as 160-moneyline favorites versus the TAMPA BAY, while the game’s total is sitting at 6.

Two of last season’s three 100-point scorers will be on display when the improving Edmonton Oilers visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday for a high-octane battle. Edmonton captain Connor McDavid is well on his way to a third-straight 100-point campaign with 21 and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov is averaging a point per game in the early going for the Eastern Conference-leading Lightning.

Tampa Bay became the first team in the East to reach 10 wins on Sunday, when it tied the game with 33 seconds remaining and won it on Yanni Gourde’s goal 14 ticks into overtime for a 4-3 victory at Ottawa. “I really thought our guys chipped away, and it did not come easy,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters after his team recorded a 37-12 advantage in shots over the last two periods and the extra session. “They had to continue to work, obviously all the way to the very end, but the group has showed that this year with us, and I thought they deserved the two points.” Edmonton earned a point in six of seven games (5-1-1) before dropping a 4-2 decision at Washington on Monday as has split the first two contests of its four-game road trip that concludes at Florida on Thursday. McDavid scored his 10th goal in Monday’s loss, giving him six tallies and five assists during his eight-game point streak.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, Sportsnet West (Edmonton)

ABOUT THE OILERS (8-5-1): Ryan Nugent-Hopkins set up both goals on Monday and ranks second on the team with 16 points – trailing only McDavid (22), who is second in the league behind Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen (24). Leon Draisaitl scored his eighth goal in the setback for Edmonton, which has gotten unexpectedly big production from Alex Chiasson (six goals) and Drake Caggiula (five). Ty Rattie (abdomen) could return to the lineup on Tuesday, with underachieving forwards Jesse Puljujarvi (one goal) and Ryan Strome (zero points) being candidates to sit out if he does.

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (10-3-1): Rookie Mathieu Joseph, who has impressed with speed and grit to earn a consistent spot in the lineup, scored his first NHL goal Sunday in his 14th game. “You can see on the bench, everyone is excited for him,” captain Steven Stamkos told reporters. “When you’re in a stretch like that, you just keep going and, eventually, one will go in. It’s even more special coming in the win.” Brayden Point recorded the tying goal and set up the winner Sunday to push his team-leading point total to 17 – eight of which have come in the last four contests.

OVERTIME

1. Edmonton RW Tobias Rieder, who has notched seven assists in his first season with the team, has not scored in 18 straight games – including playoffs.

2. Tampa Bay G Andrei Vasilevskiy is tied for the league lead with seven wins and among the leaders with a 1.98 goals-against average.

3. The home team has won each of the last five meetings while the Lightning are 5-1-1 in the last seven matchups.

PREDICTION: Lightning 5, Oilers 3

The post EDMONTON vs TAMPA BAY NHL Odds, Pick & Preview appeared first on IdealCapper.

EDMONTON OILERS vs WASHINGTON CAPITALS
When: 7:00 PM  ET, Monday, November 5, 2018
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, District of Columbia

TV: 7:05 PM
LINE: 0
PREDICTION: WASHINGTON , EDMONTON

Oddsmakers currently have the EDMONTON listed as 120-moneyline favorites versus the WASHINGTON, while the game’s total is sitting at 6.

Connor McDavid has been nearly unstoppable offensively thus far this season as he vies for his third consecutive Art Ross Trophy. The Edmonton Oilers have been on fire of late as well, and they aim for their sixth win in seven contests when they continue their four-game road trip Monday against the Washington Capitals.

McDavid notched a pair of assists in Saturday’s trek-opening 4-3 triumph at Detroit to extend his point streak to seven games (five goals, five assists). The 21-year-old captain, who has hit the century mark in points each of the last two seasons, has landed on the scoresheet in all but one of the Oilers’ 13 contests and is tied for second in the NHL with 21. Washington is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to Dallas on Saturday that kicked off its string of five straight games at home, where it has dropped three of its last four (1-1-2). The reigning Stanley Cup-champion Capitals look to earn a split of the season series after suffering a 4-1 loss in Edmonton on Oct. 25.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), NBCS Washington

ABOUT THE OILERS (8-4-1): Alex Chiasson is riding a three-game goal-scoring streak and has netted six overall in eight games this season, but remains in search of his first assist. The 28-year-old right wing, who earned a one-year contract after attending training camp on a tryout basis, recorded only nine tallies in 61 regular-season contests and one in 16 playoff games while winning the Cup with Washington last season. Leon Draisaitl was kept off the scoresheet on Saturday, ending a four-game point streak during which he registered three goals and three assists.

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (5-4-3): Evgeny Kuznetsov, who leads the team with 17 points, scored a goal on Saturday to give him at least one point in 10 of his 12 games this season. Each of the 26-year-old Russian’s six tallies this campaign have come on the power play, leaving him one shy of the career high he set in 2017-18. Nicklas Backstrom ended his three-game point drought Saturday by scoring a goal and setting up another for his team-leading 12th assist.

OVERTIME

1. Capitals RW Devante Smith-Pelly has gone five games without a point and remains five away from 100 for his career.

2. Edmonton C Kyle Brodziak scored twice on Saturday after beginning his second career stint with the team with an 11-game point drought.

3. Washington assigned D Aaron Ness to Hershey of the American Hockey League.

PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Oilers 2

The post EDMONTON vs WASHINGTON NHL Odds, Pick & Preview appeared first on IdealCapper.

TORONTO vs EDMONTON
When: 9:00 PM  ET, Thursday, November 30, 2017
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

TV: 9 p.m. ET, TSN4 (Toronto), TVAS, Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
LINE: 0
PREDICTION: Maple Leafs 5, Oilers 3

Oddsmakers currently have the TORONTO listed as -125-moneyline favorites versus the EDMONTON, while the game’s total is sitting at 6.

EDMONTON, Alberta — Over the next several seasons, there will be one overarching theme whenever the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs get together.

Connor McDavid vs. Auston Matthews.

McDavid and Matthews will face each other Thursday when Edmonton hosts Toronto.

OVERTIME

1. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl is one assist shy of 100 for his career while fellow C Ryan Strome is one goal short of 50.

2. Toronto is 0-for-10 on the power play in its last five games after scoring five times with the man advantage in its previous three.

3. Oilers RW Zack Kassian, who is an Ontario native, has three points (one goal, two assists) in his last four games after mustering just two assists in his previous 21.

The golden prize of the 2015 draft lottery against the golden prize of the 2016 draft lottery. McDavid, the previous season’s MVP, vs. Matthews, the previous season’s rookie of the year. Last season, both players led their respective teams to playoff berths, bringing their franchises out of long post-season droughts.

For a generation of hockey fans, McDavid vs. Matthews will be an ever-evolving debate.

This season, McDavid has the edge in points, 30 to 24. But Matthews’s Leafs (16-9-1) are enjoying a far better season than McDavid’s Oilers (10-13-2).

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (16-9-1): Nazem Kadri got right back on the horse after seeing his career-best nine-game point streak come to halt, as the 27-year-old scored in the third period on Tuesday to give him 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his last 11 contests. Kadri drilled the Oilers with three goals in two encounters last season to increase his point total to 10 (six goals, four assists) in nine career meetings. Fellow forwards William Nylander (three assists) and Zach Hyman (one goal, two assists) are riding three-game point streaks while Nikita Zaitsev has scored in back-to-back contests.

Both players will be looking to get on the scoresheet after not having vintage games Tuesday. While their teams both won their respective matchups, McDavid was held without a point, while Matthews, for the first time in his career, didn’t register a shot on goal.

“He’s obviously a real good player, he’s got a great shot, I think one of the best in the league just in terms of how fast he can get it off and accuracy,” McDavid said of Matthews after Wednesday’s practice. “He’s a real special player.”

“Obviously, he can skate,” Matthews said of McDavid. “I think he changes speeds better than anybody in the game. Just his hockey IQ, just a mix of everything he can do at a high pace, is obviously what sets him apart from everybody else.”

McDavid knows that the comparisons will come every time the two young superstars face each other. And he knows it’s worse for Matthews, who plays in Toronto, the world’s media hub when it comes to hockey.

“Honestly, I try not to pay attention to the media stuff and all that,” McDavid said. “But he seems to be handling it well. I don’t watch interviews and all that, but you don’t really hear anything bad about him or saying anything wrong.”

Like many star players, Matthews tried to downplay the showdown.

“It’s just another game,” he said. “You don’t really get too worked up about the whole match-up, individual match-ups, that the media likes to make. It’s just another hockey game, two teams going at each other. Obviously, they’ve got a lot of speed and skill and so do we. Usually that makes for a pretty exciting game, right.”

ABOUT THE OILERS (10-13-2): Cam Talbot’s availability is in question as the 30-year-old workhorse is nursing an upper-body injury, prompting Edmonton to bring in a University of Alberta goaltender for Wednesday’s practice. Coach Todd McLellan said that Talbot “tweaked something in his upper body” while making 29 saves in a 4-3 overtime win against Arizona on Tuesday. Should Talbot need a breather, backup Laurent Brossoit will vie for his first win of the season as he owns an 0-3-0 mark with a 3.31 goals-against average and .881 save percentage.

Oilers coach Todd McLellan was behind the bench for the Team North America squad that competed at 2016’s World Cup of Hockey, and had McDavid and Matthews as teammates.

“It was an honor to coach both of them at the same time,” McLellan said. “Remarkable athletes, and what I would say about both of them is that their competitive spirit, their fire to be elite is exceptional.”

McLellan said that when he had Matthews on the Team North America squad, he started camp as the extra forward. By the time the tournament started, Matthews was on the top line with McDavid.

The offensive contrasts between the team are stark.

The Oilers have only 67 goals in 25 games. The Leafs lead the league with 92 goals in 26 contests.

When Matthews recently missed four games to injury, the Leafs went 4-0-0 during that run. Nazem Kadri and James Van Riemsdyk each have 12 goals on the season, which ties them for the team lead with Matthews.

“We always have entertaining games with them, anyway, which will be a lot of fun,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “They got a lot of talent so we’ve got to do a good job and be prepared to play.”

The Oilers are looking for their third win in a row. The team’s current two-game win streak matches their longest victory run of the season; that’s a sign of how inconsistent the team has been this season.

Edmonton will have to do it without goaltender Cam Talbot, who was placed on injured reserve on Thursday morning. McLellan said Talbot, who has played in 22 of the Oilers 25 games this season, tweaked something in his upper body.

Backup Laurent Brossoit will be the likely starter for Edmonton, which recalled fellow goaltender Nick Ellis from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League. Ellis, 23, has posted a 5-5-1 mark with one shutout, a 2.82 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in 11 games this season with the Condors.

Rogers Place won’t be as hospitable for the home team as it usually is. Whenever the Leafs go on the road in Canada, their legion of fans across the country snap up tickets or buy ducats from their friends. There will be many blue Leafs shirts breaking up the wall of orange in the stands.

As of Wednesday, the cheapest tickets on the secondary market near the top of the arena were being sold for $128 US each. Compare that to Tuesday’s game against Arizona, where you could have found tickets for less than $40 apiece.

The post Toronto Maple Leafs vs Edmonton Oilers 11/30/2017 Odds, Picks & Preview appeared first on IdealCapper.

SAN JOSE vs EDMONTON
When: 10:30 PM  ET, Friday, April 14, 2017
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TVAS, NBC Sports California (San Jose), Sportsnet, (Edmonton)
LINE: 0
PREDICTION: Oilers 3, Sharks 1

Oddsmakers currently have the SAN JOSE listed as 125-moneyline favorites versus the EDMONTON, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

EDMONTON, Alberta — As Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series between San Jose and Edmonton progressed, something became clearly obvious; that the Sharks postseason experience was a key factor against an Oilers’ team that featured a slew of players making their playoff debuts.

Despite the crowd noise in Edmonton and falling behind by two goals, the Sharks took over the game, won 3-2 in overtime and ended up outshooting the home side 44-19. There were long periods where the orange-clad crowd appeared frustrated by the Oilers’ lack of both puck possession and time spent in the offensive zone.

The Sharks hemmed the Oilers into their zone for long periods of Game 1, and Edmonton struggled to make the transition passes that would allow the defensemen to find some of the team’s fleet-footed forwards.

San Jose will look to take a 2-0 lead Friday at Rogers Place.

“I know we’ve got to be better with the puck,” Oilers star center Connor McDavid said after the team’s practice on Thursday. “Both blue lines, I thought coming out we were a little bit sloppy at our blue line, and I thought that’s something we’ve been pretty good at all year.”

McDavid, who had 100 points on the season, was limited to one assist in his playoff debut.

“We weren’t going to go 16 and 0,” said Oilers center Mark Letestu, who, with 18 career playoff games under his belt, is one of the team’s veterans in that regard. “We didn’t expect to sweep these guys, either. The idea was to come in today (to practice), flush it, and be ready for another game.”

Anyone who has been around Oilers coach Todd McLellan for any period of time has heard the “flush it,” adage. He’s been using it all season long — win or lose, he doesn’t want his players to dwell on the past. He wants his team to always be focused on what’s next.

“There’s no panic in this room,” said Letestu. “We know we’re a lot better than we showed. We had a good first period, but, after that, it was a pretty poor game on our part.”

The status of Sharks veteran center Joe Thornton is up in the air. He’s in Edmonton, he’s been at practices, but he didn’t dress for Game 1. A knee issue kept him out of the final week of the regular season. But, by guaranteeing at least a split of the first two games in Edmonton, Sharks coach Peter DeBoer doesn’t have to rush Thornton.

“We hope to be in this for a long time and, if I get a couple of days here and there, it would help me out in the long term,” Thornton said Wednesday.

But the Sharks did get a boost in Game 1 with the return of Logan Couture, who had been out since March 25 after taking a puck to the mouth. The injury was so serious he required extensive dental surgery.

“Let’s be honest, this guy’s a world-class player,” said DeBoer. “Even at 75 percent, he’s still better than most guys in your lineup. He’s a playoff-type player, and I don’t think it was an accident that he led the league in playoff scoring last year, and he wasn’t going to be kept out of the game last night.”

Couture had 30 points in 24 playoff games last season as the Sharks went all the way to the Cup final, only to lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Couture may be playing at only 75 percent, but as the series goes on he will get better and stronger.

While the Sharks did a great job limiting McDavid in Game 1, they understand it’s simply not enough to key on one star player.

“The Edmonton Oilers are much more than Connor McDavid,” said DeBoer. “He’s a great player and he’s a guy you have to pay attention to, but we’ve learned over the season they’re much more than that and much deeper than that. Our game plan wasn’t just about Connor McDavid, it was about our team game all over the ice.”

Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson was absent from the team’s practice on Thursday, but McLellan said it’s a “maintenance day” for the team’s top-pairing rearguard. He said Larsson will play Friday.

The post San Jose vs Edmonton Odds & Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

New Jersey Devils vs Edmonton Oilers
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 12, 2017
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

TV: 9 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New Jersey), Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
PREDICTION: Oilers 2, Devils 1

Oddsmakers currently have the NEW JERSEY listed as 160-moneyline favorites versus the EDMONTON, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

EDMONTON, Alberta — Taylor Hall is doing what he was expected to do when the New Jersey Devils acquired him last summer. He’s tied for the team lead in points, even though he’s missed nine games.

Adam Larsson is doing exactly what the Oilers expected of him when he was acquired from the Devils. He’s a solid first-pairing defenceman that Edmonton badly needed.

Really, it’s a trade that is working out for both teams. But, when the Devils visit Rogers Place Thursday night, Hall’s return to the city in which he began his professional career will be the game story.

Hall, who the Oilers selected first overall in the 2010 draft, was traded to the Devils last July for Larsson. This season, Hall has 25 points in 32 games for New Jersey.

Hall had 328 career points in 381 career games as an Oilers, putting him 17th on the franchise’s all-time scoring list.

“For Taylor to come back here, and he obviously had roots here for many years, I’m sure it’s not easy,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan. “The fans here, the organization, the coaches and even his teammates obviously appreciated all the things he did for us during his time here — and we recognize that and welcome him back. But, when it’s time to play, it’s time to play.”

“He’s a good player, it was tough to see him go,” said Oilers right-winger Jordan Eberle, who has known Hall when he was 10 years old. “But I think we’re better as a team — and he’s doing well there. It will be interesting to see him play.”

When speaking to reporters, Hall, though, spoke about the game in Edmonton not as a standalone event, but as the first of a massive four-game road trip for a team near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

“We’re playing some teams that have some offense, are obviously going to pose a big challenge for us,” said Hall. “This is a road trip that’s probably going to define our season, and make or break it.”

The trip got off to an ominous start. The team’s charter to Edmonton was delayed five hours after the tow vehicle bumped the nose of the airplane the Devils were on.

The Devils go into Edmonton on a three-game losing streak, including a 2-1 overtime loss to the Oilers Saturday at Newark’s Prudential Center. That game was only close because of the play of Devils netminder Cory Schneider, who stopped 41 shots.

“This road trip is about getting our game back,” said Devils coach John Hynes. “We’ve lost three games. … So we have to get some things in order in our game and we have to a better job than we did in the last couple of games to be able to find a way to win games and get points.”

Since Saturday’s win over New Jersey, the Oilers have lost two in a row.

The Oilers can’t afford another slow start. Their two-game losing streak can be attributed to poor first-period efforts. In Sunday’s loss to Ottawa, they were down 2-0 by the 13:43 mark. In Tuesday’s loss to San Jose, the Oilers gave up a goal just 1:39 into the game.

“Not really ready to go, too slow, turnovers, no execution early in the game, then put your foot on the gas and go after a team,” is how McLellan categorized his team’s last two efforts.

So, while Hall’s return to Edmonton will create a buzz at Rogers Place, the Oilers can’t afford to get swept up in the moment and be on their heels for the first few shifts of the game.

On Wednesday, the Oilers recalled center Jujhar Khaira from their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif., sending center Anton Lander the other way. Khaira had two assists in 15 games with the Oilers in 2015-16.

The post New Jersey vs Edmonton Odds & Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

Winnipeg Jets vs. Edmonton Oilers
When: 9:30 PM ET, Sunday, December 11, 2016
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), Sportsnet Oilers, Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
PREDICTION: Oilers 5, Jets 3

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Oilers’ four-game losing streak is an example of how fine the lines in hockey truly are.

Three of the four losses came in either overtime or the shootout; the one regulation loss of the four saw the Oilers establish 2-0 and 5-3 leads at Philadelphia before giving up a late goal to lose, 6-5.

So, you could argue that the Oilers were only a few breaks away from collecting eight out of a possible eight points out of those four games. They ended up with only three.

They will try to change the pattern when they host the Winnipeg Jets Sunday night at Rogers Place. The Jets will come in with tired legs, having lost 6-2 at Calgary Saturday night. It was the Jets’ third loss in a row.

“We’ve got to get the (Calgary loss) out of our mind and focus on tomorrow, and have that fire in our belly,” said Jets center Mark Scheifele, who has 27 points in 27 games this season. “(The Oilers) are a good team, they’re quick, they’re skilled and we’ve got to be ready for them.”

The hottest Oiler is center Leon Draisaitl; he has scored in five of the last six Oilers games, and has nine points over that span. He scored in Friday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild.

“I think I’m pretty confident right now,” said Draisaitl. “The puck seems to bounce my way a little bit, which didn’t happen in the first couple of games.”

But what’s been troubling for the Oilers is they held leads in each of the four straight losses. If the Oilers want to shake the decade-long pattern of missing the playoffs, the team will have to develop the mental toughness needed when it comes to getting up in a game — and seeing it through to the final buzzer.

“It’s been tough on us of late,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan. “The schedule, the way we’ve lost some games, the frustration level goes up and, often, when it happens it sucks a lot of energy out of you.”

But he added that he thought the Oilers’ 3-2 shootout loss in Minnesota on Friday night saw all of his players come out with strong efforts.

Now, the challenge is to turn a strong effort into a winning effort.

The Oilers will face a Jets team that’s already playing back-to-back games for the sixth time this season. By contrast, the Oilers have played just three back-to-backs this year. The game will be the Jets’ fifth in seven games.

The diabolical schedule has not pleased Jets coach Paul Maurice.

“I don’t like our schedule at all. I’ve never seen one like it,” Maurice said. “It may be the new NHL, we just have to get used to it and deal with it.”

Maurice said his team will make full use of two days off at home after they head home from Edmonton.

The post Winnipeg vs. Edmonton Odds & Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.

Edmonton Oilers vs Philadelphia Flyers
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 8, 2016
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet (Edmonton), CSN Philadelphia
PREDICTION: Oilers 4, Flyers 2

PHILADELPHIA — Thanks to a powerful power play fueled by Wayne Simmonds, outstanding goaltending by Steve Mason and the steady progress of 19-year-old rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov, the Philadelphia Flyers carry a six-game winning streak into Thursday night’s home game against the Edmonton Oilers.

Simmonds is coming off back-to-back two-goal performances and leads the NHL with eight power-play goals. He is tied for third in the NHL with 15 goals.

“He’s been primarily pretty much a 30-goal scorer,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “He’s doing the exact same thing, doing exactly what he has always done. The thing with Simmer is that he doesn’t change his game, he doesn’t waver. I think you are seeing a very confident player right now, a very competitive player and a very focused player. He’s been very important for our group here especially in the first third of the season and that is going to continue.”

The Flyers’ power play has produced more goals this season — 24 in 28 games — than any team in the NHL. Claude Giroux is a big reason. He leads the NHL with 15 power-play points.

Mason has been the Flyers’ best player in recent games. He stopped 42 of 44 shots in Tuesday night’s 3-2 overtime win against the Florida Panthers, his fifth straight win. Florida recorded 85 shot attempts to the Flyers’ 51.

“Mase has been outstanding over the last three weeks,” Flyers right winger Jake Voracek said. “Sometimes you are going to have hockey games like that but Mase was great and we scored when we needed to.”

Mason’s 88 wins as a Flyer moved him past Pelle Lindbergh and into sixth in franchise history. Mason needs six wins to move into third place in franchise history.

The Flyers have also received steady play from Provorov, a 19-year-old rookie who picked up an assist and recorded a huge block on a 2-on-1 in overtime on Tuesday night.

“I think he has done a great job all year long and he is only going to get better,” Simmonds said of the 19-year-old rookie. If you watch him play he is getting better and better, not every game, but every shift.”

Provorov will draw the assignment of stopping the Oilers’ top line of Connor McDavid, Milan Lucic and Leon Draisaitl, who have combined for 30 goals and 78 points this season. McDavid leads the NHL with 36 points and all 11 of his goals have come at even strength.

The Flyers likely will try to match the checking line of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Chris VandeVelde and Dale Weise against the McDavid line.

The Oilers are coming off Tuesday night’s 4-3 overtime loss in Buffalo. Jordan Eberle, Lucic (8 goals) and Draisaitl (11 goals) scored for the Oilers (14-10-4) while Cam Talbot made 22 saves.

The Oilers blew a one-goal lead late in regulation and lost on a power-play goal in overtime.

“We did a really good job taking that game over after the first,” McDavid told the Edmonton Journal. “Started slow, battled back, had the lead and weren’t really giving up much, especially in the third period. Give them credit. They found a way to get one, get it to overtime and their power play bared down.”

“It comes down to them pulling their goalie and executing and we have to live with that,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. “That’s going to happen in the game, that’s going to happen every now and then and it’s the next 22 seconds when you take a penalty that you don’t need to take and that sets you up for a loss.”

As for projected rosters, Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas is expected to return after missing three games with an illness. Oilers defenseman Dillon Simpson could make his NHL debut. The Flyers activated forward Boyd Gordon and placed Matt Read (upper body injury) on injured reserve.

The post Edmonton vs Philadelphia Odds & Prediction appeared first on IdealCapper.