Rogers Place will be hosting a cross-continent matchup as the Edmonton Oilers take on the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s the last time they’ll will go at it in the regular season. The two teams played two times last year, with Pittsburgh sweeping both games. This one gets started at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 1 and it can be caught live on Sportsnet ONE.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Edmonton Oilers Odds
Edmonton comes into the contest as the favorite with a moneyline of -120. The line for Pittsburgh sits at +100, and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at an even 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -125 for the under and +105 for the over.
Pittsburgh is 7-6 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 0.1 units this year. Through 13 regular season outings, eight of its games have gone over the total, while five have gone under and none have pushed. As the road team this season, the Pens are 3-5 SU.
Pittsburgh has impressively scored on 28.0 percent of its power play opportunities so far. That’s a good improvement from last year, when it was ranked sixth in the league by converting on 22.5 percent of its extra-man chances. Its penalty kill has improved slightly, as the teams gone from successfully defending 80.6 percent of opponents power plays (ranked 20th overall last season) to 81.1 percent this year.
Pittsburgh, as a collective unit, has been called for penalties 5.3 times per game during the 2017-18 season, a number that has regressed noticeably from last years 3.9 penalties per game. After serving an average of 9.3 penalty minutes per game a season ago the teams been forced to stave off opponent power plays for a whopping 14.7 minutes per outing this year.
With a .903 save percentage and 26.4 saves per game, Matt Murray (7-4-1) has been the best option in goal for Pittsburgh this year. If it decides to rest him, however, Pittsburgh could turn to Antti Niemi (0-3), who has a .797 save percentage and 7.49 goals against average this year.
Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel will both look to continue their strong seasons for the visiting Penguins. Malkin has 13 points on five goals and eight assists, and has recorded two or more points three times. Kessel has four goals and nine assists to his name (and has notched a point in nine games).
Over on the other bench, Edmonton is 3-7 straight up (SU) and has already lost 6.8 units for moneyline bettors this year. Five of its outings have gone over the total, while another five have gone under and none have pushed. It’s 2-4 SU at home thus far.
Edmonton has converted on just 12.1 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that places it in the bottom overall among NHL teams. Its penalty kill is also ranked 30th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 70.3 percent of all penalties.
Edmonton skaters have been whistled for penalties 4.6 times per game this season, a number that’s climbed some from the 3.8 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 9.6 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the teams had to kill penalties for 11.5 minutes per matchup this season.
Cam Talbot has stopped 26.2 shots per game as the top selection in goal for Edmonton. Talbot has three wins, six losses, and one overtime loss and has recorded a pedestrian 3.10 goals against average and a fairly-weak .904 save percentage this season.
Connor McDavid (five goals, six assists) will pace the attack for the Oilers.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Edmonton Oilers Betting Predictions
Predictions: SU Winner – Penguins, O/U – Over
Betting Trends:
- The under has hit in three of Edmonton’s last five games.
- Pittsburgh has managed 34.4 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Edmonton is averaging 40.2 shots per game over its last five home outings.
- The Penguins are 5-1 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 4-2 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
