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Oilers vs Golden Knights November 23 Betting Preview: Edmonton on 5-0-1 Over Run

Ryan Metivier

by Ryan Metivier in NHL Hockey

Updated Apr 2, 2020 · 1:40 PM PDT

Draisaitl & Mcdavid
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are scoring at a record pace and visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night. Photo By @RobCarlinNBCS (Twitter)
  • The Edmonton Oilers travel to Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, November 23
  • The Oilers’ Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl lead the league with 44 points each
  • The hometown Golden Knights are favored at -170 to win the first head-to-head game this year

It’s a Pacific Division showdown in the NHL on Saturday night as first-place Edmonton (14-7-3) travel to Las Vegas to face the Golden Knights (11-9-4) at T-Mobile Arena at 10:05 pm EST.

The Oilers enter Saturday currently first in the division with 31 points, while Vegas sits fourth with 26 points. Each of these teams last played on Thursday night, with Edmonton losing 5-1 in Los Angeles and Vegas losing at home to San Jose 2-1 in overtime.

Oilers vs Golden Knights Odds

Team Spread Moneyline Total
Edmonton +1.5 (-160) +150 O 6.5 (-105)
Vegas -1.5 (+140) -170 U 6.5 (-115)

Odds taken Nov. 22

Will Oilers’ McDavid and Draisaitl Continue Torrid Scoring Pace?

Edmonton were moneymakers for “Under” bettors earlier this season but lately, have seen a strong run of “Overs” cashing with five-straight totals going “Over” prior to Thursday’s “Push” with the total landing on six in LA.

Edmonton has alternated wins and losses in their past six and that pattern continued this week with a Tuesday night 5-2 win over the Sharks. The Oilers had five different scorers, including Connor McDavid who had one goal and two assists. It also included Zack Kassian who’s been performing well on the Oilers’ top line. He had goals in four of five games with six points prior to the Kings game.

Unfortunately for the Oilers, that balanced scoring was nowhere to be found Thursday night in a 5-1 loss to the Kings. Edmonton was down early 3-0 after the first and yanked Mike Smith in favor of Mikko Koskinen to start the second. Despite cutting the lead to 3-1 early in the second, Edmonton quickly fell behind 4-1 later in the period.

McDavid was the lone scorer for Edmonton, a goal that went unassisted. That extended McDavid’s point streak to nine games, while Leon Draisaitl’s 13-game point streak came to an end.

The Oilers’ dynamic duo may have been limited on Thursday, but they always have to be considered in goalscoring props. The Point lists McDavid as top five in each of the categories for offensive zone possession (4th), slot shots (4th), slot pass completions (1st) and zone entries (1st). Draisaitl ranks right behind McDavid for second in slot pass completions.

Knights Look to Close Gap on Oilers

The Knights have been wildly inconsistent of late with four wins in their opening six games, but then more recently losing seven of eight prior to last Sunday’s 6-0 thrashing at home of the Calgary Flames. They then took care of Toronto 4-2 on Tuesday. And while the final score may have come close to going “Over”, the score was just 1-0 for Vegas heading into the third and Vegas’ fourth goal came on a late empty-netter.

The win was starting netminder Marc-Andre Fleury’s 450th career win which now ranks him seventh all-time.

The team’s third-leading scorer Mark Stone found the back of the net on Tuesday in addition to in Sunday’s win over Calgary. However, those are his only two points in his past nine games overall after being held off the scoresheet Thursday night in the overtime loss to San Jose.

The Knights were able to muster little on offense despite outshooting the Sharks 38-29 and facing San Jose’s backup goalie Aaron Dell who has a GAA over 3.00 and sub .900 save percentage.

If you’re looking for player scoring props on the Knights, team-leader William Karlsson has zero points in two games but recorded seven points in his previous three games. While Max Pacioretty has at least a point (6G/6A) in 9/12 recent games.

The low-score resulted in the third-straight “Under” cashing in a Knights’ game, putting their season Over/Under total at 11-12.

The tweet above may be slightly outdated, but it illustrates the number of scoring chances the Golden Knights have been creating. And while that figure is from a single game, nearly a month ago, the Knights are still fourth in slot shots according to The Point today with 15.3 per game. That ranks only behind Carolina, Washington and Montreal.

If there’s a team that could defend the slot against the Knights, it may be the Oilers, who rank fifth in inner slot shots against.

Edmonton vs Vegas Stats

Oilers
VS
Vegas
14-7-2-1 Record 11-9-4-0
12-12 ATS 9-15
12-11-1 O/U 11-12-1
76 (5th) GF (Rank) 71 (12th)
67 (15th) GA (Rank) 69 (21st)
43.0 (12th) xGF 5-on-5 (Rank) 50.3 (1st)
40.7 (14th) xGA 5-on-5 (Rank) 43.5 (22nd)
692 (20th) Shots For (Rank) 819 (1st)
741 (22nd) Shots Allowed (Rank) 760 (27th)
308 (14th) High Danger Scoring Chances For 5-on-5 (Rank) 376 (1st)
310 (16th) High Danger Scoring Chances Against 5-on-5 (Rank) 315 (19th)

*Stats taken November 22. GF/A, xGF/A, Shots, HDSC from Hockey-Reference.com

Quick Out of the Gate

As with any sport, there are often many game props outside of the typical spread, moneyline and totals odds. One such bet is period betting, specifically period totals betting. While neither of these teams has been consistent moneymakers for full-game totals bettors, had you been betting them early on in the first period, you’d be making bank.

After Thursday night both the Oilers and Golden Knights are now 15-9 to first-period totals over 1.5 goals with the Oilers/Kings’ game cashing with three goals, but the Sharks/Knights going “Under” with zero.

However, the Knights have scored just once in the first period in their past four games and their games have remained scoreless after the first in each of the past two. Oiler game early “Overs” have been scorching hot with six-straight seeing a goal scored within ten minutes and also going over 1.5 first period goals. In fact at least three goals have been scored in each of the past six Edmonton first periods.

The Knights are also 15-9 to the “Over” with goals being scored in the first ten minutes of games.

Both teams additionally side to the “Over” in third-period totals with Edmonton being 15-9 and Vegas 14-10.

Oilers vs Golden Knights Best Bet

These teams met four times last season with Vegas taking the season series 3-1. The teams split at Rogers Place with the Oilers winning 2-1 and Vegas 6-3. The Knights then won both meetings at T-Mobile 3-1 and 6-3.

There are a few conflicting stats to support bets on either team this weekend. The Knights have failed to fully capitalize on the raucous crowd at T-Mobile going only 6-4-3 so far this season. While the Oilers have one of the league’s better road records at 7-5-1.

YouTube video

It will also be a matchup of the league’s top power-play unit (EDM) versus the league’s fourth-best penalty-killing team (VGK).

The Oilers are also strong on the PK (1st) while Vegas boasts a top-ten PP of their own.

With Mike Smith getting pulled for Edmonton on Thursday, Dave Tippett may start Mikko Koskinen Saturday who has just one loss in regulation this season. Koskinen’s .921 save percentage (13th) ranks just behind his likely opponent Marc-Andre Fleury’s .922 (11th).

Neither team is in exceptional form right now and I’m going on the assumption we’ll be seeing both Koskinen and Fleury between the pipes. After getting shelled for five goals and three first period goals on Thursday, I’m banking on the Oilers coming out strong early and for an overall close game.

Picks: EDM to win 1st Period (+125), EDM +1.5 (-160), Under 6.5 (-115)

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