Edmonton Oilers vs. San Jose Sharks Prediction, NHL Odds
McDavid played twice on his birthday so far in his career but was held off the scoresheet the last he did so and has yet to score a birthday goal.
The Oilers continue their West Coast road trip Friday night with a stop in San Jose to battle with the Sharks. Edmonton will be the -170 favourite to win on the NHL odds with the total set at 6.5.
Oilers vs. Sharks NHL Betting Odds
The Oilers dominated the season series last season winning all four games, the Sharks managed to force overtime twice and covered the spread in both of those meetings but were beaten by three in the others. Looking back even further, they have met 16 times since the 2017-18 season and in 13 of those matchups they played the Over. Early bettors are anticipating this trend again Friday night with 87 percent of Over/Under bets taking the Over.
As one of the highest-scoring teams in the league (3.6 goals per game for 4th in the NHL), the Oilers have played the Over 25 times through 43 games. Only their opponents in tonight’s game San Jose and St. Louis have had more games hit the Over. Edmonton has only won two of their past six games and will be looking to even their 21-22 record ATS tonight after only covering in those two victories.
The Sharks play the Over more than anyone in the league, with a 27-14-2 record on the Over/Under. Their offence is just middle of the pack but they give up a lot against, 3.7 per game over the 43 games played so far, good for fifth most in the league. In their past 10 games, they have played the Over eight times, allowing a troubling 4.1 goals against average. Despite a horrendous 13-22-8 record, they have managed a decent record against the spread at 22-21, including back-to-back W’s in that column.
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers got back in the win column on Wednesday with a dominant 6-2 win over a bottom-feeding Anaheim Ducks squad. Klim Kostin scored two goals for the second time since the holiday break, Evan Bouchard had a pair of assists from the backend, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid each had a goal and an assist.
With two points in the game, McDavid ranked as the fifth-highest-scoring 25-year-old player in NHL history with 776 points in 530 career games. He is the second Oiler on the list after some guy with the last name “Gretzky”.
Since Stuart Skinner flew home for the birth of his first child on Monday, Jack Campbell was given the starting role for the remainder of the road trip. He stopped 21 of 23 shots in Anaheim picking up his 10th win of the season and is getting another start versus the Sharks Friday. This could be a great opportunity for the 31-year-old to gain back his coach’s confidence after a disastrous start to the season.
San Jose Sharks
San Jose will return home after a tight game versus the Los Angeles Kings, where they fell 4-3, taking their third loss in their last four games. The effort was there for the Kings who would score twice in the final frame to keep themselves within reach, after being behind almost all night and giving up the first goal.
Nick Bonino got the Sharks on the scoreboard in the second period with his fifth goal of the season, while Timo Meier (24) and Tomas Hertl (14) would score in the third to keep the game exciting. Defenceman Erik Karlsson had an assist to increase his lead amongst NHL defencemen to 56 points (13G 43A) in 43 games. The 32-year-old also leads the Sharks in scoring and is looking to have a career year, surpassing his 82 point season in 2015-16.
San Jose will be opening a three-game homestand Friday looking to improve their horrible 4-11-6 record on home ice. Kaapo Kahkonen will likely get the start versus the Oilers after back-to-back losses by James Reimer. Kahkonen is 5-7-4 with a 3.68 goals-against average and a .876 save percentage.
