Edmonton Oilers vs. Ottawa Senators: NHL Odds, Prediction
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Charlie Grant
Senators captain Erik Karlsson has missed 11 games over the last two seasons to a variety of injuries but none could have hurt as much as the reason why he won’t lace up the skates on Thursday night against the Edmonton Oilers in this NHL matchup.
Oilers vs. Senators Betting Analysis
The Oilers have picked up points in six of their last eight games including Tuesday’s 7-3 win at Carolina. This is the last night on a four-game road trip and the club is back in Edmonton on Saturday for a home game against the Los Angeles Kings.
There’s just another nine contests before the Oilers’ regular season comes to a merciful end. Edmonton is in 12th place with no shot jumping into playoff positioning before season’s end. The Oilers began the campaign as serious contenders to come out as Western Conference champions. The club fell way short of those projections which goes a long way in explaining its awful moneyline stats this season. A $100 bettor would be down $1397 if he or she had bet on the Oilers in each of their games.
Ottawa is coming off a 7-2 smashing at the hands of the Florida Panthers. The result drops the Senators to 18-38 straight up in their last 56 games. The Sens are in second-last place in the East with 63 points in 72 games.
Edmonton is 1-6 SU in its last seven games against Ottawa including a 6-1 home loss back in October.
Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton thought it had the perfect secondary scorer in Leon Draisaitl when the German native scored 77 points in 82 games a season ago. That’s why the Oilers penned the centre to an eight-year $68 million extension last summer.
His fourth season in the City of Champions has been a frustrated one. He’ll have terrible games like Wednesday last week when he was on the ice for all four goals the San Jose Sharks scored against the Oilers. And he’ll have sizzling nights like he did on Tuesday when he totaled four points. Meanwhile, Connor McDavid still has the Art Ross Trophy in his sights. He’s four points back of league-leader Nikita Kucherov.
Ottawa Senators
Karlsson’s wife Melinda delivered a stillborn baby earlier this week. The Norris Trophy winner is taking time off to be with his family after the loss of the baby. He’s second on the team in points with 56 in 66 games but carries a -24 plus/minus rating.
