NHL: Vegas Golden Knights vs Edmonton Oilers Preview
Division Still in Sight for Oilers; Vegas Hanging to Wild Card Spot
NHL: Vegas Golden Knights vs Edmonton Oilers Preview
The division crown is still in sight for the Oilers; Vegas hanging on to wild-card spot
The Vegas Golden Knights (42-27-8, 92 points) are no shoo-in for the postseason with five games to play and with games against the Edmonton Oilers (47-24-5, 99 points) and the Colorado Avalanche (102 points) remaining.
Vegas leads the St. Louis Blues (87 points) by five points for the final wild card. The Oilers trail Vancouver (104 points) by five points but own two games in hand and a game against the Canucks still on the schedule. Oddsmakers have made Edmonton a -144 favorite over Vegas with a total 6.5 (under -118).
Puck drop is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT and can be seen on TNT, MAX, and Scripps. Let’s get into our Knights vs Oilers betting preview.
Vegas Golden Knights vs Edmonton Oilers 
Day/Time:
Location: Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB
Streaming: TNT, MAX & Scripps
Vegas Better Find Their Footing Soon
Golden Knights fans raised an eyebrow when VGK went to the Mullet and dropped a match-up against the hapless Coyotes after giving up six third-period goals.
Like many times before, Vegas would go on to wipe the bad taste from their mouths against a stronger opponent, but instead of the usual pallet cleanse, the Knights dropped a 3-2 decision to the Vancouver Canucks after holding leads of 2-0 and 3-2.
We did have one betting angle at play that has held for many years, go against teams with key guys returning to the line-up or in this case playing for the first time. Tomas Hertl (15-20-35) skated on the second line with Chandler Stephenson (16-31-47) and Michael Amadio (13-13-26).
Hertl played 20:20 and was on the ice for the last 2:05 of the game to tie the score late, which speaks about his health and Bruce Cassidy has confidence in his deadline acquisition. We think we’ll see the Knights among the teams on the NHL playoff scoreboard, but they need to start finding some defensive cohesion and a touch of mental toughness wouldn’t hurt either.
Edmonton Has One Hand Out of The Hole
After the Edmonton started the season 5-12-1, the Oilers are 42-12-5 and are within striking distance of the Vancouver Canucks who at one point had a 14-point lead over their Canadian rival.
Edmonton made a coaching move to Kris Knoblauch after Jay Woodcroft started the year 3-9-1. The hiring set fire to a team ready to move on from the voice of Woodcroft.
Knoblach is 44-15-4 behind the bench with his team controlling their destiny with one final clash against the Canucks coming up on Saturday. Not everything is rosy in Alberta with the news that Connor McDavid (31-99-121) could miss tonight’s game with a lower-body injury, the NHL stat leader in assists is listed as day-to-day.
In addition, there appeared to be an issue between Corey Perry (11-8-19) and Evander Kane (23-18-41) during their 4-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
It wasn’t the first time we’ve seen Kane clash with teammates but the veteran looked like it was much to do about nothing during the post-game presser, still, it wasn’t a good look for a team that will need to come together if McDaivd is out for tonight’s game or beyond.
Vegas Has Been a Tough Wager
The Golden Knights have had an incredible run as a franchise but when it comes to putting your money behind the seventh-year franchise that has been another story.
This season the Knights are -3.45 units adding to their -7.05 units since the 2018-19 season despite a 257-192 (.572) record. In that span, Vegas is just 54-65 as an underdog and 41-53 as a road dog. Edmonton is one of the few clubs that has had the better of the Knights in the regular season with a 12-9 all-time record.
Vegas hopes to improve on a 4-6 record in Edmonton but our official NHL prediction today suggests that the Oilers are the side here. So much of betting long-term season sports are riding the hot team and right now that’s the Edmonton Oilers.
That does it for our Golden Knights vs Oilers preview, we wish you all the best with your picks and parlays on Wednesday.
For NHL betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
