Two teams looking to elevate themselves in their respective divisions will go head-to-head when the Edmonton Oilers host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday at 9:00 p.m. EST in Rogers Place. Pittsburgh is currently 7th in the Metro division with 62 points, but they have played only 57 games. Two wins could put them into 4th in the division. Meanwhile, the Oilers are at 72 points and need only one more point to tie the Golden Knights for 2nd in the Pacific division. However, they have played three less games than Vegas. Edmonton is a -190 money line favorite while the total is set at 6.5 goals.
Penguins Primed for a Push
The Penguins lost their most recent contest to the Seattle Kraken by a score of 2-0. Sidney Crosby led the team with five shots on goal while Tristan Jarry did his best with 26 saves out of 28 opportunities.
As he has done in many years on Pittsburgh’s roster, Sidney Crosby has the lead in goals (32) and points (62), but Jake Guentzel has a forward-high 30 assists on the season. Evgeni Malkin has the most penalty minutes accumulated among the forwards with 50. Crosby has the highest +/- ratio with a +17 and Guentzel has the edge among all forwards in time spent on the ice with 20:52. Crosby has a team-high eight power play goals on the year, but Malkin has the most assists on the power play with ten. Crosby leads the squad in shots with 206. As a unit, the offense ranks #5 in shots with 33.1 per game. They are #1 in the face-off circle as well with a 55.4% win rate, but they are 29th on the power play with a 14.6% success rate. Overall, they are 22nd in goals scored per game at 2.95.
Tristan Jarry is the #1 option in net for the Penguins, and he has a 2.56 GAA and a 91.2% save percentage so far this season. Erik Karlsson, who was acquired in the offseason in a massive trade, has the most points among Pittsburgh defenders with 43. He also leads the blue-liners in goals (8), assists (35), power play goals (2), power play assists (13), and shots (138). Marcus Pettersson leads the defenders with a +23 while Kris Letang leads the defenders with 52 penalty minutes. Despite his time spent in the box, Letang is still holding onto the lead in time spent on the ice with an average of 24:44 per game. Pittsburgh is 7th on the penalty kill and 5th in goals against per game with an 82.0% kill rate and 2.70 goals against per contest, but they are 18th in shots against per game with 30.1. Pittsburgh has three players listed on the injury report, and all are out until the middle of the month. Guentzel and Bryan Rust have upper body injuries while Matt Nieto has a knee injury.
Edmonton Elevating
The Oilers were able to come back and defeat the St. Louis Blues in their latest outing, winning in overtime by a score of 3-2. Connor McDavid put the team on his back with a goal and two assists while Zach Hyman scored twice. Hyman led the team with six shots on goal and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a pair of assists as well. Stuart Skinner had a solid performance, stopping 32 of 34 shots in the victory.
On the offensive end, Edmonton is exactly where you would expect them to be, near the top of the league in goals scored per game with an average of 3.54. They have a 27.7% success rate on the power play while and their face-off win percentage is also top ten at 52.3%. They have additionally earned an average of 33.7 shots per game, ranking #2 in the league. Connor McDavid is still the #1 option for Edmonton as the first-line center, and he has a total of 94 points, 22 goals, and 72 assists. Zach Hyman has the most goals and shots overall on the squad with 40 and 207 respectively. His teammate Leon Draisatil has the most power play goals with 15 while McDavid has a team-best 27 power play assists. Hyman has the highest +/- ratio among the offensive skaters with a +21 and McDavid has the most ice time among forwards with 21:33. Evander Kane leads all members of the Oilers with 70 penalty minutes as well. The question has always been about the depth behind McDavid and Draisatil. If the depth can provide enough support, the Oilers could finally realize their ambitions of a deep cup run.
Edmonton had their huge winning streak that propelled them to 8th in goals against, but now they are 12th with an average of 2.98 goals given up per game. They also rank 15th with an 79.5% kill rate on the penalty kill, a far cry from ranking 5th earlier in the month. Interestingly, they are ranked in the top five in shots against with an average of 28.4 per contest. Stuart Skinner has earned the majority of the reps in net so far and has posted a 2.68 GAA and a 90.4% save percentage while Calvin Pickard has a slightly better stat line with a 2.53 GAA and an 90.5% save percentage in his 11 games played this year. Evan Bouchard has the most points among defenders with 57 including 15 goals and 42 assists. Mattias Ekholm has the highest +/- ratio among the defenders with a +22 and Vincent Desharnais Nurse is leading the defense in penalty minutes with 41. Bouchard has six goals and 20 assists on the power play while ranking 5th overall in shots on the team with 152. Fortunately for the Oilers, nobody is on the injured list heading into this game.
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Full-Game Side Bet
Rating:
Edmonton has dominated the Pittsburgh Penguins in their recent meetings, winning their last four in a row and five out of their last six. Pittsburgh is also below .500 on the road while the Oilers have a much better record of 19-8-2 at home. The Penguins have a couple key players such as Rust and Guentzel out for this contest. I believe this will impact the offense significantly, especially when they need as much offense as possible against a team like the Oilers. Edmonton also carries the momentum heading into this contest with three wins in a row and Pittsburgh has lost their last two. The Oilers have won by at least two goals in their last four wins against Pittsburgh, which leaves me feeling confident about taking the Oilers with the spread.
Prediction: Edmonton Oilers -1.5 (+134)
Full-Game Total Pick
Rating:
The Oilers are back to their winning ways thanks to their defensive effort, giving up only five total goals in their last three games combined. Pittsburgh still has talent with the likes of Crosby and Malkin, but the injuries to their other wingers will impact the offense enough for me to feel confident in the under. The Oilers have only scored an average of three goals per game in their last three outings and both teams have hit the under in the majority of their contests. Pittsburgh has a 34-21-3 record on the under this season and Edmonton is 30-25-3 on the under.
Prediction: Under 6.5
Written By
Seamus Cole , “Seamus Cole”
Seamus has grown up in the world of sports his entire life, with his mother and father playing multiple sports during their early years. As a result, Seamus tried nearly every sport he could and found a passion for watching as many games as possible, particularly the “core four” sports. Seamus first started writing sports articles when he was 18 years old. He has covered a variety of sports, ranging from the NFL to the Korean Baseball League, to amateur soccer, and so forth. His knowledge and range of all sports has led him to be successful in making picks across the board. Over the past five years, he has learned more about betting trends along with the business side of sports, graduating with a sport management and economics degree. We’re excited to have Seamus on the team, as he provides quality insight and finds hidden values in games where the average person would not. His dedication to finding the best matchups to bet on is top-tier and he finds intrinsic value in helping others make money using his hard work and detailed analysis. You can be sure that if you follow Seamus on a daily basis, you will not be disappointed.