In their fourth and last head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Edmonton Oilers and the Arizona Coyotes collide at Gila River Arena. CBC Sports will air this Pacific Division matchup, and the opening face-off is at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 16.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Arizona Coyotes Odds
Edmonton (+115) is playing the role of underdog to Arizona (-135) and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at 6 goals. If you want to play the game’s total, you’ll be looking at odds of -110 for the over and -110 for the under.
Earning 8.8 units for moneyline bettors, the Coyotes are 36-35 straight up (SU) overall in the 2018-19 season. That early-season winning percentage is a refreshing turnaround from how the team performed during the 2017-18 season (29-53). 37 of the team’s 71 games have gone under the total, while 31 have gone over and just three have pushed. The team’s 18-18 SU at home this year.
Arizona’s converted on 17.1 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is rated second overall, and it’s successfully killed off 85.1 percent of all penalties.
As a team, Arizona has been penalized just 3.4 times per game overall this season, 2.8 per game over its past five games total, and 3.4 per game over its last five home outings. The team has had to kill penalties for just 6.3 minutes per game over its last 10 matchups, in total.
Boasting a .921 save percentage and 28.6 saves per game, Darcy Kuemper (24-21-5) has been the best option in goal for the Coyotes this year. If head coach Rick Tocchet chooses to rest him, however, the team could turn to Antti Raanta (6-6-6 record, .906 save percentage, 2.88 goals against average).
The Coyotes will continue to look for leadership out of Clayton Keller and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Keller (45 points) has produced 13 goals and 32 assists and has recorded two or more points on eight separate occasions this year. Ekman-Larsson has 11 goals and 27 assists to his name and has recorded a point in 31 contests.
Over on the other bench, Edmonton is 31-39 straight up (SU) and has lost 10.8 units for moneyline bettors this year. A total of 34 of its outings have gone under the total, while 31 have gone over and just five have pushed. As the visiting team, Edmonton is 15-20 SU.
Edmonton has converted on 21.0 percent of its power play chances this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 31st overall and it’s successfully killed off 75.1 percent of all penalties.
Edmonton’s players have been penalized 3.8 times per game this season, and 3.0 per game over their last five road outings. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 8.3 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Mikko Koskinen (2.79 goals against average and .911 save percentage) has been the primary option in goal for Edmonton. Koskinen is averaging 25.7 saves per game and owns a 21-23-4 record.
For the visiting Oilers, the offense will run through Connor McDavid, who’s got 66 assists and 34 goals on the year.
Edmonton Oilers at Arizona Coyotes Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner – Oilers, O/U – Under
Betting Notes
- For both of these clubs, the total has gone over in three of their past five outings.
- The Coyotes are 15-21 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 23-27 in games where they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
- Edmonton is 3-2 in games decided by a shootout this season while Arizona is 4-1 in shootouts.
- Arizona is ranked 26th in the NHL this season with 6.6 takeaways per game. That figure has trended higher, as it has created 7.6 takeaways over its last 10 games and 7.4 takeaways over its last five.
- Edmonton is ranked 12th overall this season with 8.0 takeaways per game. That figure has trended down, however, as the team has averaged 7.3 takeaways over its last 10 games and 7.2 takeaways over its last five.
