The NHL Western Conference Final shifted to Rogers Place over the weekend and the Edmonton Oilers quickly took advantage. A controversial non-call kept a full five-man line on the ice, leading to two goals in rapid succession while the Dallas Stars probably should have been on the power play. The visitors had plenty of time to even the score, but Connor McDavid proved too much to handle and Edmonton blew the game open to the tune of a 6-1 win.
Ahead of tonight’s action, here’s an Oilers vs. Stars Game 4 prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Oilers vs. Stars Game 4 prediction, pick
After Game 3’s rout, the Oilers now enter Game 4 as -155 Moneyline favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook while the Stars lag behind as +130 ML underdogs. However, Dallas is still expected to keep things close with -180 odds to cover the +1.5 puck line and an overall game total of 6.5 combined goals.
Unlike the Eastern Conference Final in which the Panthers are dominating the Hurricanes, picking winners for this series feels like a serious coin flip. Throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, we’ve seen Dallas look gritty and resilient as they downed the Avalanche and Jets across the first two rounds, but they’ve also had some contests in which they flat-out disappeared. The Oilers have strung together more consistent performances, but Stuart Skinner remains a feast-or-famine presence between the posts with multiple shutouts, but also multiple five-plus goal affairs to his name.
It’s worth noting that despite the Game 3 blowout, Dallas actually dominated Edmonton by most metrics — the Stars finished the contest with 2.76 expected goals across all situations compared to just 0.95 for the Oilers. The lesson here is that the hockey gods are often cruel and the puck can be a fickle mistress. With that said, Dallas did finally show some fight and played better hockey than Edmonton across a good portion of the game. This team almost loves to play from behind, and facing a 2-1 deficit, I expect them to punch back tonight.
Injuries remain a key factor here. Stars first-line center Roope Hintz warmed up last game but wasn’t able to play as he recovered from a slash by Darnell Nurse. Hintz is once again a game-time decision depending on how he responds to warmups. As for the Oilers, Connor Brown took a massive hit from Alex Petrovic which knocked the winger out of Game 3, and Brown won’t suit up tonight. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm also won’t play due to an undisclosed injury.
If Hintz plays, this pick feels much safer. However, I’m still going with Dallas to win outright at +130 odds. They know they absolutely have to respond in this scenario, and with how they’ve handled adversity over this playoff run, a bounce-back game to knot the series feels imminent. After going 2-for-2 picking Edmonton to win the last couple of outings, let’s see if we can keep the streak going.
Best bet: DAL Stars Moneyline (+130)
