The NHL is back in action after an exhilarating break for the Winter Olympics! Tonight, there’s a high-stakes matchup out in the Pacific Division as the Edmonton Oilers head to Anaheim to battle the Ducks. These franchises are just one point apart in the division standings with the former having played two additional games, so a win tonight could mean a lot in the long run for either side as the postseason push truly begins.
Read on for an Oilers vs. Ducks prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Wednesday’s game with puck drop scheduled for 10:30 p.m. EST.
Oilers vs. Ducks prediction, preview
Edmonton’s season has been marred by a struggling defense, but with 64 points, the team sits second in the Pacific. The Olympic break couldn’t have come at a better time as the Oilers dropped three consecutive games prior to the pause, so some time for most of the players to take a step back and recover from a grueling first 2/3 of the campaign was much needed. Their Olympians — Leon Draisaitl of Germany and Connor McDavid of Canada — are both expected to play tonight as well despite chatter that the latter may miss.
Through this campaign, the Oilers are fourth in goals and shots per game with 3.41 and 30.0, and their power play remains the best in the league at 31.4%. McDavid paces the entire NHL with 96 points and retakes his spot as the 1C alongside Zach Hyman (36 P) and Ryan-Nugent Hopkins (45 P). Draisaitl will settle back in on the second line with 80 points. Evan Bouchard is a candidate for the Norris Trophy with 63 points across 58 games as well. The blue line and goaltending remain something of a problem though, giving up the eighth-most goals per game at 3.29. Tristan Jarry, traded for to solve issues in net, has produced just an .870 SV% and 3.64 GAA over his 11 games in orange and blue.
As for the Ducks, they’re at 63 points and are fourth in the Pacific Division. The break was at a more inopportune time for them at 8-2 over the last 10 games heading into the pause. They sent a handful of players to the Olympics in Jackson LaCombe, who barely saw the ice for the Americans, as well as Mikael Granlund and Lukas Dostal. Granlund, the captain of Team Finland, is out tonight with an upper-body issue suffered in the game for bronze.
Anaheim sits 15th in scoring with 3.20 goals per game and third in shot attempts with 30.1. The team deploys a high-pressure offense headlined by Cutter Gauthier with 49 points as the leading goalscorer (25). Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson also have 44 points apiece and are on the first line with Gauthier tonight, while Troy Terry has 44 points as well in more of a playmaking role. LaCombe leads Ducks defensemen with 37 points and a team-high 31 assists. The blue line struggles as a whole though, giving up the fourth-most goals per game at 3.48 on 28.8 shots. Dostal is something of a bright spot between the pipes given that context, recording an .897 SV% and 2.92 GAA.
Oilers vs. Ducks pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Oilers as -130 favorites on the Moneyline while the Ducks come in at +110 odds. Betting splits show 68% of straight bets in Edmonton’s favor on the road with 71% of wagers leaning over on the total of 6.5 combined goals.
There are a pair of bets I like in this one. First up, the over on 6.5 goals is a sharp bet given that both of these teams lean heavily on their scoring but lack standout defenses. If you put two squads that pressure the net at high rates and lack either strong goalie play or much of a blue line to stop such attempts, it’s only right that you get plenty of goals. Fresh legs for most players should help the outlook for this, as does the fact that Jarry can’t seem to stop anything most nights.
I do favor Anaheim to emerge with a win, though. There’s a decent chance that McDavid may be fatigued from a run to the gold medal game, and while he’s surely fired up after falling short, he played a ton of minutes and just traveled internationally. One could say the same for Dostal after getting the starting nod in four games in Italy, but he’s been better than Jarry this season by a decent margin. Plus, the Ducks are 17-8-1 at home compared to just 13-15-2 on the road. With the bump in their own barn, I like them as a sneaky upset winner.
