Edmonton Oilers vs. New York Islanders Prediction, NHL Odds
Edmonton’s coming off a stretch of eight of nine home games, a stretch that was quite successful with the Oilers going 6-2 on home ice. But they finished with back-to-back losses against a pair of Eastern Conference opponents. Both were important defeats too as they kept Edmonton at the bottom of a log jam right around the West’s final playoff spots.
New York’s played their way back into a top-three spot in the Metropolitan Division but the standings there are too tight too — three points separate the Islanders from their third-place spot and 11th-place in the conference.
Puck drop at UBS Arena gets started at 7:30 p.m. EST with the Oilers a -135 moneyline favourite on the road and the over-under at 6.5 on the NHL odds.
Oilers vs. Islanders NHL Betting Odds
The road has been a tough hurdle for Edmonton this season, as they’ve come away with just four wins in 12 away games this season. New York is one of the better teams in the NHL on home ice too, going 8-3-6 at UBS Arena in 2023–24. In Edmonton’s last 15 trips to go play the Islanders, New York’s come out on top 12 times.
The Over has hit in nine of the Islanders last 10 games and in five of their last six at home. There’s another Over trend when it comes to the Isles playing western opponents too: five of the Islanders’ last six against a Western Conference club have finished Over the total.
Edmonton Oilers
Well, Calvin Pickard doesn’t appear to be the answer to Edmonton’s goalie woes. The 31-year-old made his fourth start of the season on Saturday and got shelled for five goals on 34 shots faced. Pickard has one win in his first games played but ironically is the lone Oilers goalie this season with a save percentage above .500. And the Oilers went to Pickard after having Stuart Skinner let in five goals on 22 shots two nights earlier.
So as always, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have to go off or it’ll be a loss for Edmonton. The duo of McDavid and Draisaitl combined for seven shots on goal but finished a combined -3 on the night. They also only have a combined five goals in December.
New York Islanders
The Islanders have been off since Saturday, where they nearly fought themselves out of a nightmare in Montreal. New York allowed four goals in under 12 minutes, but came back to make it 4-3 before a Montreal empty-netter sealed the Isles fate. Brock Nelson scored twice in the loss and is up to a team-high 15 goals. With the other goal in the loss, Bo Horvat became the third Islanders skater to reach 30 points — trailing Mathew Barzal (35) and Noah Dobson (32).
The game in Montreal followed a six-game home stand for the Islanders in which they finished 4-0-2. New York’s now scored a minimum of three goals in 10 straight games — a spark they needed as they’re still 17th in the NHL with 3.1 goals per contest .
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