Vegas Golden Knights vs Edmonton Oilers Series Preview
The Golden Knights Handled Winnipeg, Are Slick Roads Ahead for The Knights
Despite being Pacific Division champions, the Vegas Golden Knights are -155 underdogs to the Edmonton Oilers. That makes sense because Edmonton is on a 22-4-1 run dating back to the regular season, after disposing of the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, 4 games to two. Vegas handed the Winnipeg Jets a five-game loss in their first-round series. VGK is +$195 for $100 bettors, third best after one round. The Oilers, despite their win, are still in the red for their supporters (-$5). Game one of the best of seven is Wednesday Night from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Let’s see if the oddsmakers are correct in making the Golden Knights vs Oilers betting odds in favor of Edmonton.
Oilers vs Golden Knights 
Date & Time:
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Streaming: ESPN
Powerful Oilers 3-0-1 Against Vegas
You could easily go up and down various offensive categories to see why the Edmonton Oilers are slight favorites in a series where they don’t own home ice. The 2022-23 NHL standings said that the Golden Knights were the better team but over the last two months, the Oilers are 21-5 (+593 units).
If there is any team equipped to handle the constant wave of pressure it’s the Vegas Golden Knights who were just 19-7 over their last 26, but the top team where it matters with 969 units won.
However, the difference in the numbers clearly doesn’t come from the books putting a premium on Oiler games. Edmonton was a -230 favorite 11 times (10-1) in those 26 games and -300 seven times (7-0).
Not a recommended line to bet them at but Edmonton mowed down the opponents that were set before them. Jay Woodcroft’s team is a -115 favorite in game one so let’s adjust the filter to see what their record is as a small favorite this season.
With 429 units won, the Oilers are 11-8 in 22-23 when they’re a -120 favorite or less. The difference in this series could be the mental advantage that Edmonton holds after an undefeated effort in four regular season games (3-0-1) against the Knights. Watching interviews with various Oiler players, the words say that this will be a tough series, but you’re expecting every one of those interviews to end with them saying they’re better.
They fall just short of that, but you can see it all over their face. When a team brings in the best player in the world while leading the league in offense (4.0 goals/gm) along with a power play (32.45%) that forces the opposition to think twice about a game plan may call for more physicality, that gives the Oilers a clear mental advantage. We continue our preview of the Golden Knights vs Oilers betting odds preview with an honest assessment of what the Knights must do to survive.
Knights Must Control Pace Of Play
In the Knights’ magical inaugural season, they dominated the pace of play until they faced the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Final. Washington was a team that could match the speed and, like the Oilers, brought the best player in the world with Alex Ovechkin.
When we think about speed we often think about how fast a team is but there’s nothing worse than having a team that can skate with anyone but appears sloppy because they don’t move the puck well. This Edmonton series reminds us so much of that final.
The Knights must win the Corsi battle or they’ll be done because no matter how good Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit was against the Jets, he is not good enough to steal a series. In five games against Winnipeg, Brossoit was asked to make an average of 28 saves a night.
He will face 35-40 nightly and no matter how good his numbers have been, this organization thought Brossiot was only good enough to get 10 regular season starts. They buried the 30-year-old in the American Hockey League, where he started 22 games (8-11-3), despite having come into the season with numerous injuries to their goaltenders.
The VGK power shave done some peculiar things in the past, but if confidence was high for Brossoit, then why bring in veteran Jonathan Quick late in the season? This brings us back to the original point, the Knights must control the puck starting with the defensive corp getting the rubber of their stick quickly in their own zone.
Alec Martinez, Alex Pietrangelo, Brayden McNabb, and Shea Theodore’s ability to quickly hit forwards up the ice in their own end. They’ll get buried in this series if there’s hesitation or sloppy passes. The NHL game schedule says we start tomorrow, so let’s quickly give you our opinion on how this series will play out so we can put some cash behind that assessment.
Time to Get Crazy
We know what the Golden Knights vs Oilers betting odds suggest, but this postseason has been anything but conventional. The X factor in this series is Jack Eichel. The massive free agent signing has been counted on by some to be the answer to Connor McDavid.
The 26-year-old has been very good, but not in the stratosphere of McDavid or even Leon Draisaitl for that matter. This is his chance to grab some of the spotlight while showing he is among the best of the best. But this series isn’t about offense if the Knights are to win, it will be about defense.
It’s about clogging up the neutral zone and forcing turnovers that lead to high-danger scoring chances. Head Coach Bruce Cassidy knows they must be precise but physical at the same time. Let’s get crazy and assume they do just that in addition to Brossoit continuing to find playoff magic.
Take the Vegas Golden Knights in six games because we think Vegas will be the team to use special teams to their advantage considering they’re the least penalized team in hockey, that will keep the Oilers’ special teams off the ice. That does it for our Golden Knights vs Oilers betting odds preview, we wish you the best in the second round.
Follow us on Twitter
