Edmonton Oilers vs. Boston Bruins Prediction, NHL Odds
The Eastern Conference portion of Edmonton’s five-game road trip concludes Thursday when it makes its only visit of the season to the Boston Bruins. The Oilers are -137 favourites on the NHL odds with a total of 6.5 goals.
Oilers vs. Bruins NHL Betting Odds
Boston is usually a Stanley Cup contender in the Eastern Conference but had an eight-season playoff run end last season when the club used two head coaches. The Bruins have not advanced beyond the second round since 2019, when they lost in seven games to the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final.
This was expected to be a bit of a rebuilding year, then, under first-year coach Marco Sturm. The 46-year-old German, who played for the Bruins from 2005-10 (and briefly for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011-12 campaign), is a head coach for the first time in the NHL. He has done a solid job with Boston in the mix for a wild-card spot but a -280 underdog for the playoffs with yes at +230.
This is the fourth game of Edmonton’s five-game trip and the last against an East foe as at closes with a Saturday matinee in the front end of a back-to-back. The Oilers return home Sunday vs. Vegas.
It’s the first meeting this season between these clubs with Boston at Rogers Place on New Year’s Eve. Edmonton swept last year for the first time in eight seasons. Zach Hyman (1G, 2A) and Leon Draisaitl (3A) led with three points each. Connor McDavid had two goals. Stuart Skinner got the W in net for both but is of course gone now. No Boston player had more than one point in the series. Jeremy Swayman started both in net and had a 2.99 GAA and .906 SV.
Edmonton is 6-4 in the past 10 overall and the over-under is 2-8.
Edmonton Oilers
We predicted a 4-3 loss in Pittsburgh on Tuesday as Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby faced off for a 16th time, but the Oilers were 6-4 winners (so hit the over). Edmonton scored exactly two goals in every period.
Leon Draisaitl was the No. 1 star and reached 1,000 career points, becoming the fastest German and fifth-fastest player born outside of North America to do so. It was Draisaitl’s 10th career four-assist game to Jari Kurri for third place on the franchise’s all-time list.
McDavid clearly was fired up and was the No. 2 star with two goals and two assists. He and Draisaitl each posted four or more points in the same game for the 12th time in their careers and tied Ken Hodge and Phil Esposito for the fourth-most instances by a duo in NHL history. The record is 30 by Wayne Gretzky and Kurri.
McDavid has recorded his 10th career 20-goal season to tie Glenn Anderson, Kurri and Messier for the most in franchise history. McDavid now has a seven-game points streak and has totaled 20 (9G, 11A) in that run. Edmonton has 35 goals in its past seven games combined.
Former Penguin Tristan Jarry stopped 26 of 30 shots in his Oilers debut. No reason it won’t be Jarry again Thursday, and he didn’t see Boston this year while with Pittsburgh. Edmonton has won five straight games in Boston.
Boston Bruins
Boston won for the fifth time in six games Tuesday, 4-1 over visiting Utah to improve to 10-2-0 in the past 12 at home. Morgan Geekie had two goals and leads the team with 24. He also has a league-leading 49 goals via the calendar year.
Only current star David Pastrnak (58 goals in 2023 & 57 in 2022) and Hall of Famer Cam Neely (52 in 1990 & 51 in 1989) have reached 50 goals in a calendar year among Bruins players in the past 40 years.
Geekie has more goals in the calendar year than he did in his NHL career prior in 290 games played. His five multi-goal games this season are tied for third in the NHL.
Pastrnak assisted on a game-winning goal for the 92nd time and broke a tie with Wayne Cashman (91) for the fifth most in Bruins history. Pastrnak leads the club with 38 points and has nine points in four games since returning from injury.
Forward Viktor Arvidsson (14 points) missed a second game in a row Tuesday with a lower-body injury and is day-to-day.
No. 1 Jeremy Swayman was in net for a second straight start and recent history would thus indicate it is Joonas Korpisalo’s turn. He’s 6-6-0 with a 3.35 GAA and .888 SV. The over is 5-2 in the Bruins’ past seven.
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