Two teams that’ve served a lot of time in the penalty box this season, the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks clash at Rogers Arena. The puck drops at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, December 16, and you can catch this divisional matchup live on Sportsnet Pacific.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks Odds
Edmonton (-130) is tabbed as the favorite over Vancouver (+110), and oddsmakers have put the Over/Under (O/U) at an even 6 goals. If you want to play the game’s total, you’ll be looking at odds of -105 for the over and -115 for the under.
Edmonton is 18-15 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 4.0 units this season. Through 33 regular season outings, 17 of its games have gone under the total, while 14 have gone over and just two have pushed. As an away team in 2018-19, the Oilers are 8-10 SU.
Edmonton has converted on 20.4 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 19th overall, and the team’s successfully killed off 78.1 percent of its penalties.
For the team as a whole, Edmonton has been penalized 3.9 times per game overall during the 2018-19 season, and 4.6 per game over its last five road outings. The team has had to stave off opponent power plays 8.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
With a .894 save percentage and 26.2 saves per game, Cam Talbot (7-11-2) has been the primary option in goal for Edmonton this year. If Edmonton chooses to rest him, however, they could go with Mikko Koskinen (11-5-1), who has a .930 save percentage and 2.12 goals against average this year.
The visiting Oilers have relied on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl this year. McDavid has 48 points on 19 goals and 29 assists, and has recorded multiple points 12 times. Draisaitl has 16 goals and 26 assists to his name (and has logged at least one point in 24 games).
On the other side of the ice, Vancouver is 15-20 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 3.1 units this year. Through 35 regular season matches, 18 of its games have gone over the total, while 16 have gone under and none have pushed. It’s 7-8 SU at home this year.
Vancouver has converted on 17.3 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s right around league average. Its penalty kill is also ranked 22nd overall, and it’s successfully killed off 77.2 percent of all penalties.
Vancouver players have been penalized 3.9 times per game this season, and 2.6 per game over their last five home outings. The team’s had to stave off opponent power plays just 5.6 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jacob Markstrom (28.9 saves per game) has been the top choice in goal for Vancouver. Markstrom has 12 wins, 12 losses, and three OT losses to his name and has recorded a pedestrian 3.06 goals against average and a subpar .904 save percentage this season.
Elias Pettersson (16 goals, 18 assists) will lead the attack for the Canucks.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks Free Picks
Free Pick: SU Winner – Canucks, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- For both of these teams, the total has gone over in three of their last five matches.
- The Canucks are 4-8 when the team serves fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 9-12 in games where they’re in the box for fewer than 10 penalty minutes, total.
- Vancouver is ranked 26th in the NHL this season with 6.4 takeaways per game. That figure’s trended lower lately, however, as the team has managed 4.1 takeaways over its last 10 games and 5.0 takeaways over its last five.
- Edmonton is ranked sixth this season with 9.0 takeaways per game. That figure has trended upward lately, as the team has averaged 10.5 takeaways over its last 10 games and 11.4 takeaways over its last five.
- Edmonton may hold an advantage if this one comes down to the wire. The team’s an impressive 11-4 in one-goal games, while Vancouver is 6-10 in such games.
