Los Angeles Kings vs Edmonton Oilers Series Preview
Second Straight Season, Oilers and Kings Meet in First Round.
The Edmonton Oilers (50-23-9, 109 points) and Los Angeles Kings (47-25-10, 104 points) series price open with the Oilers a -250 favorite. These Pacific Division rivals met four times during the NHL regular season with each team winning twice. Los Angeles won the first two games by a combined 9-4 score, and the Oilers won the last two match-ups, allowing just one goal.
NHL betting odds for game one have Edmonton as a -190 favorite, with a total of 6.5 (-110). Early NHL betting patterns show 65% of the early money coming in on the Oilers. Let’s preview each team followed by our official selection.
Kings Must Overcome Injuries Once Again
Last season there were very few teams that had to deal with more injuries than the Los Angeles Kings. The undermanned Kings took Edmonton to seven games last season, losing 2-0 in the series finale. They’ll have to do the same with Kevin Fiala and Gabe Vilardi out for game one. Taking two 20-goal scorers out of the line-up is a massive blow to the Kings’ depth.
Their top line is still more than capable of keeping Los Angeles in most games with Anze Kopitar (28-46-74) and Adrian Kempe (41-26-67) leading the way. However, only Viktor Arvidsson (26-33-59) managed to hit the 20-goal mark, leaving most to question how the Kings will compete against the Oilers who feature four players with at least 36 goals and three with at least 100 points (Hopkins 104, McDavid 153, Draisaitl 128). Bettors enjoyed a profitable season betting Los Angeles, producing a 47-35 record, good for +411 units.
Only five other teams had better records against the moneyline (Bruins +1923, Sabres +851, Golden Knights +813, Devils +669, Kraken +549). Todd McLellan’s team was a respectable 19-21 (+174 units) when an underdog, 1-2 when receiving +160 or more.
The Kings’ goaltending will be the deciding factor in this series with Joonas Korpisalo (18-14-4, .914, 2.87 GA) expected to make the game one start. The Finish netminder was 3-3 to end the season, allowing just 13 goals in that span. The last time the 28-year-old faced the Oilers was March 30th, winning 2-0 after a terrific 35-save performance from Korpisalo.
Oilers Have A Rare Goaltending Advantage
Stuart Skinner (29-14-5, 2.75 GA, .913 Save Percentage) will get the crease in game one for Edmonton. The Edmonton native has not lost a regulation game in almost five weeks going 10-0-1 since a 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, allowing six goals on 37 shots.
Throw away an overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Oilers have won 14 of 15 with Skinner in the net. The 24-year-old goalie has allowed two or fewer goals in five straight starts. We mentioned goaltending first because you already know they own a high-octane offense that almost dares their opponents to put them on the power play where they cashed in on 32.4% of their chances.
There are some that will ask if Jay Woodcroft’s team has enough depth but when you have a top six that averages 87 points, you realize that the Oilers are loaded and will prevail once against if Skinner continues to produce winners.
Bettors weren’t quite as profitable backing Edmonton as they were Los Angeles, but still managed to start in the black with 287 units won. When the Oilers were a favorite of -200 or more this season, they cashed out in 17 of 24 games, still not good enough to produce a profit (17-7, -130).
Oilers Drown Kings In Waves Of Offense
The number one rule of gambling is to throw away the memory of what just happened, or as is the case with this series, wash your mind of what happened last season. The Oilers will win this series in five games (+375) and -115 to win game one and the series. We shall see if that carries over to the postseason where the Oilers are hoping to improve on a 9-15 playoff record (-749 units) since the 21-22 season.
The Kings are 4-12 in their last 16 playoff games (-600 units). Despite both teams trying to get a better grip on the postseason, this is the year where the Oilers and Kings are not competitive with Edmonton winning in five games.
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