Montreal Canadiens vs. Edmonton Oilers Prediction, NHL Odds
After an embarrassing 5-1 loss in Edmonton to the Canadiens on Saturday night, the Oilers will get a second crack at Montreal on Monday, in the second game of their back-to-back series.
Montreal is a slight favourite of -115 on the NHL odds with a total of 6.5 goals.
Canadiens vs. Oilers Betting Analysis
Sports Interaction bettors seem to think the smart money is on the Oilers at -105, as 81 per cent of bettors are backing Edmonton and they could be on to something. The Oilers have won 10 of the last 14 games overall, between these teams, 13 of the last 18 games in Edmonton against the Habs, and they also swept the two-game season series, last year.
If their records from last year are any indication, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a split in this series, as Edmonton’s home record and Montreal’s road record were both middle of the pack in the NHL. The Oilers were 17-11-6 at home, 17th in the league, while the Canadiens were 17-14-3 on the road, good for 15th in the league. Temporarily in a new division, Monday will see both of these teams continue to try to turn mediocre records from last year into some sort of improvement, this season.
Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price was the best player on the ice, for either team on Saturday. Price has historically struggled against Edmonton and heading into Saturday he had a career record of 3-9-1 against the Oilers, with a 3.65 goals-against average and an .861 save percentage. Putting that history behind him, Price finished with 34 saves in the 5-1 win, losing the shutout bid late in the third period.
The Canadiens also showed new depth that hasn’t been seen in Montreal for a while. Three of four lines found their names on the score sheet and former Oiler, Jeff Petry, netted two goals. Tomas Tatar also picked up two goals, but it was Montreal’s defensive presence that was impressive. The Habs contained former Art Ross winner Connor McDavid and reigning Art Ross winner Leon Draisaitl to a single secondary assist between the two of them. With nine goals over their first two games and holding the Oilers to a single goal on Saturday, Montreal is showing depth everywhere in the lineup.
Edmonton Oilers
Despite allowing five goals on 36 shots, the Oilers will turn to Mikko Koskinen again, on Monday. Now that Mike Smith has been placed on long-term injured reserve list, Koskinen is the only Edmonton goalie with NHL experience. Through three games, Koskinen has a 4.04 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage. It seems almost impossible that the Oilers wouldn’t currently be looking at trading for a goalie, as their No. 2 is Stuart Skinner, a 22-year-old who has never played an NHL game and their No. 3 is 20-year-old Olivier Rodrigue, who has been playing in Austria.
On the positive side, the disappearance of the offence wasn’t for lack of trying. Edmonton managed to get 35 shots on Price and even though he was held pointless, Draisaitl led the team with six shots. In the two-game Vancouver series McDavid answered a scoreless first game with a hat trick the next night, so watch out for the offence to come back with a vengeance. With players of Draisaitl and McDavid’s calibers, it’s only a matter time before the puck starts going in the net.
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