A pair of teams that have started the season off strongly, the Nashville Predators and the Edmonton Oilers take the ice at Rogers Place in a Western Conference matchup. The action will get underway at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 20, and it will be showcased live on CBC Sports.
Nashville Predators vs. Edmonton Oilers Odds
Nashville is 6-1 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 3.3 units this season. That winning percentage, ranked first in the NHL so far in this young season, is a solid improvement over the 53-29 record from last year’s regular season campaign. Through seven regular season outings, three of its games have gone under the total, while two have gone over and just one has pushed. The Preds are 3-0 SU as the road team in 2018-19.
The Predators have found the net on 17.4 percent of their power play opportunities thus far. That’s a fairly big drop-off from last year, when they were ranked 11th in the NHL by scoring on 21.2 percent of their extra-man advantages. Their penalty kill has fallen off drastically year-over-year, as they’ve gone from successfully defending 82.2 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked sixth overall last season) to 72.2 percent this year.
For the team as a whole, the Preds have been penalized 3.6 times per game during the 2018-19 season. Last year, that figure was the worst mark in the league at 4.5 penalties per game. After serving an average of 10.9 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to stave off opponent power plays for only 8.4 minutes per matchup this year.
Averaging 26.2 saves per game with a .929 save percentage, Pekka Rinne (4-1) has been the best option in goal for Nashville this year. Rinne played last night, however, so Nashville could decide to rest him and go with Juuse Saros instead (3-0 record, .917 save percentage, 2.23 goals against average).
The visiting Predators have relied on Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen heavily this year. Forsberg (eight points) has tallied five goals and three assists this season while Johansen has two goals and five assists to his name through the early phase of the regular season.
On the other side of the rink, Edmonton is 3-2 straight up (SU) and has earned 1.6 units for moneyline bettors this year. Three of its matches have gone under the total, while two have gone over and none have pushed.
The Oilers have killed off a remarkable 71.4 percent of all penalties, a few points lower than the 76.7 percent they posted a year ago (when they were ranked 25th in the NHL). They’ve found the net on 35.7 percent of their power plays this year after converting on 14.8 percent (ranked 31st in league) last season.
Edmonton players have been sent to the penalty box 3.6 times per game this season, a number that’s pretty close to the 3.6 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 9.2 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to kill penalties for 7.8 minutes per matchup this year.
Cam Talbot (25.8 saves per game) has been the primary choice in goal for the Oilers. Talbot has three wins and two losses to his credit and has maintained a fairly-weak .902 save percentage and 2.81 goals against average this season.
The Oilers offense will be led by Connor McDavid (four goals, seven assists).
Nashville Predators vs. Edmonton Oilers Betting Predictions
NHL Tip: SU Winner – Predators, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Notes
Edmonton has yet to win a game by two or more goals this season.
Nashville has averaged 4.3 goals per game while giving up just 1.8 in their past four games (the team’s a perfect 4-0 SU over that span)
The Predators are 2-0 SU when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Oilers are 2-1 SU in games where they spend more time in the box than the opposition.
The total has gone under in three of Edmonton’s last five outings.
Edmonton is averaging 2.6 goals per game across its three-game win streak.
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