Edmonton Oilers vs St. Louis Blues - Odds and Predictions

Where: Enterprise Center – St. Louis, MO.

When: Wednesday, December 18, 8:30 PM

How (TV/Radio): Sportsnet, Fox Sports Midwest | WFAN

Edmonton Oilers (Away)

Head Coach: Dave Tippett{All-Time 572-426-28-124 EDM, ARI, PHX, DAL}

The Oilers, after a rough week, now find themselves sitting in second in the Pacific division. They are coming off of a win over the Dallas Stars but are only 3-6-1 in their last ten games.

Offense

Don’t let their recent sluggishness fool you – this is still a dangerous team. Despite a few losses, the Edmonton Oilers have still managed to have the league’s best power-play percentage at 32.26 percent. They have 30 power-play goals this season.

Star forwards Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid have slowed down a bit but have still combined for 116 points this season, 50 of those on the power play.

They are the ninth-highest scoring team in the league with 95 total goals and they have the NHL’s seventh-best shooting percentage at 10.4 percent.

With all that said, this Edmonton team is also tied for allowing the most shorthanded goals against this season. While on the power play, the Oilers have allowed opposing teams to score five goals while at a disadvantage.

Defense

Edmonton will have their hands full defensively. Other than their penalty kill (which ranks only one spot above St. Louis), the Oilers have been middle-of-the-pack at best this season.

The penalty kill unit ranks fifth in the NHL with a 84.4 percent. They have allowed the second-fewest power-play goals against at just 13.

Unfortunately, the Oilers take a lot of penalties. St. Louis is not a team to play undisciplined against. Edmonton averages over eight-minute of penalty time per game compared to St. Louis’ six minutes.

The big difference here comes down to goals. Edmonton has allowed the 12th-most goals against this season and the goaltending tandem has combined for only a .908 save percentage – noticeably worse than that of the Blues.

Goaltending

The Edmonton Oilers are expected to start goaltender Mike Smith for Wednesday night’s game. Smith has a season record of 7-8-2 with a 3.08 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage. He has one shutout this season.

Head Coach: Craig Berube{All-Time 134-85-40 STL, PHI}

The Blues have been on a roll. They still hold the first-place spot in the Central Division and are coming off of a big win over the always dangerous Colorado Avalanche. It was the third win in a row for St. Louis who are now 7-3-0 in their last ten games.

Offense

Believe it or not, the St. Louis Blues have only scored three fewer goals than Edmonton this season. Not only that, but the Blues actually have a higher goals-per-game average at 3.06 (the Oilers sit below three per game).

The Blues have also taken exactly as many shots on net as Edmonton this year but they average more per game at 29.8 compared to the Oilers’ 29.1.

This team ranks seventh in the league when it comes to the power play. The Blues have a power-play percentage of 22.68 percent and have scored 22 power-play goals this season.

St. Louis has a shooting percentage of 10.1 percent – the tenth-best in the league. This should be a competitive matchup when it comes to offense.

Defense

The St. Louis Blues rank within the top-ten for every major defensive statistic this season. First of all, the average the fifth-fewest penalty minutes per game at 6.2.

This translates into the league’s sixth-best penalty killing unit who has managed a season percentage of 84 percent.

St. Louis actually does allow quite a few shots against, but their goaltending has been so good this season that the team has only allowed a combined 80 goals – the sixth-fewest in the league. The team’s save percentage is sixth-best in the league at .918.

Goaltending

It comes as no surprise that goalie Jordan Binnington is getting the nod in net Wednesday night against the Oilers. Binnington is 16-6-4 on the season thus far. His goals-against average sits at 2.44 and he has a .920 save percentage with one shutout.

Edmonton and St. Louis met just over one month ago on November 6. The defending Stanley Cup champion defeated the Edmonton Oilers with a final score of 5-2.

We’ve mentioned earlier in the season that these could very well be the two teams that end up doing battle in the Western Conference finals this season so this could be a preview. The win is big for both teams but more so for the Edmonton Oilers who have shown signs of struggle over the past week. A win for Edmonton would move them back into the top-three of the Western conference where st. Louis currently holds the top spot.

Questions to Answer

Will the Edmonton Oilers be able to put an end to the Blues’ three-game winning streak whilst playing on the road?

Can Edmonton’s goaltender Mike Smith keep up with the Blues’ dominant power play Wednesday night?

Are the Blues the deepest team in the league? We are now more than two months since the injury to star-forward Vladimir Tarasenko and the Blues are still dominating, sitting first overall in the Western Conference.

Edmonton Oilers Injury Report

D Ryan Mantha – IR/NR (eye)

D Matt Benning – DL (head)

St. Louis Blues Injury Report

D Carl Gunnarsson – DL (upper-body)

F Vladimir Tarasenko – DL (shoulder)

F Ivan Barbashev – OUT (upper-body)

F Sammy Blais – DL (undisclosed)

F Erik Foley – IR/NR (concussion)

Edmonton Oilers vs St. Louis Blues – Game Odds

The odds for the Oilers vs the St. Louis Blues game are provided by bet365 NJ, DraftKings Sportsbook, and 888Sport NJ.

Good luck!

Money Line