Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers Prediction, NHL Odds
Playing in back-to-back nights, the Oilers and Canucks are back at it on Thursday as Edmonton looks to even the season series and avenge Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to Vancouver.
Despite dropping Wednesday night’s season opening loss to the Canucks, the Oilers come into this game as -125 favourites on the NHL odds with a total of 5.5.
Canucks vs. Oilers Betting Analysis
After splitting last year’s season series with two wins apiece, it was the Canucks who struck first this year, winning the first of ten games Vancouver and Edmonton will play in the regular season. Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat led the way for the Canucks with Horvat opened the scoring in the first period, while Boeser scored twice in the third period to seal the win. Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, who is among the favourites to win the Art Ross and Hart trophies, was scoreless, while reigning Art Ross winner, Leon Draisaitl, had one assist.
Wednesday’s game was just the second time the over has hit in the last 11 meetings between these teams. Sports Interaction bettors have faith in a bounce-back game for Edmonton, as 67 per cent of bettors are taking the Oilers, while early betting is 99 per cent in favour of the over.
Vancouver Canucks
Rookie Nils Hoglander had a dream debut on Wednesday, scoring in his first NHL game. The second line of Hoglander, captain Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson had a combined five points, while over on the first line, Brock Boeser scored twice in the third period to seal the deal. After coming to Vancouver in the off-season as a free agent, Braden Holtby looked comfortable in net, stopping 28 of 31 shots he faced. Boeser, Horvat, Pearson and Quinn Hughes all had multipoint games in the win. Vancouver is 9-3 in their last 12 games after scoring at least five goals in the previous game.
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers defensive woes from last season didn’t see any improvement against Vancouver on Wednesday. Edmonton gave up five goals on 35 shots against the Canucks, after a 2019-20 season that saw them finish in the bottom half of the league in total goals against and average shots against per game. Mikko Koskinen struggled on Wednesday, finishing with a .857 save percentage, while Darnell Nurse and Ethan Bear were the only Oilers defencemen to not finish with a negative plus/minus.
Connor McDavid logged more ice time (26:24) and shots (5) than any other Edmonton player, but was held scoreless on the game sheet. Reigning Art Ross winner, Leon Draisaitl, finished with an assist, while Darnell Nurse, Kailer Yamamoto and Adam Larsson picked up the goals for the Oilers. The under is 6-2-3 in Edmonton’s last 11 games against Vancouver.
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