The Vegas Golden Knights look to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race with a win over the struggling Vancouver Canucks, while the red-hot Edmonton Oilers visit the Anaheim Ducks.
Vancouver Canucks (-110) vs Vegas Golden Knights (-110)
The Golden Knights seem to have figured out their struggles on the road. It helped to be able to play the Seattle Kraken in their past two after dropping the previous seven away games in regulation. Next up is a home-and-home with the Canucks that starts with the game in Vancouver. A bit of a harder test than the Kraken but the Golden Knights have also won four in a row and have figured out their offence after back-to-back shutout losses to the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets on the road.
The Canucks have fallen off and taken themselves out of the playoff race. They now sit eight points back of a playoff spot with two extra games played than the Dallas Stars. The Canucks had a nice run after Bruce Boudreau took over but weren’t able to maintain the dominance they had after the immediate impact. They have lost six of the past eight games and have a worse home record than they do on the road. Take the Golden Knights to continue to roll wins in while jumping on that over (O6, +100).
Anaheim Ducks (+165) vs Edmonton Oilers (-200)
The Oilers and Ducks have been at the opposite ends of the league over the past number of games. The Oilers tied their franchise record for consecutive home wins with nine, while the Ducks finally snapped an 11-game losing streak in a win over the Arizona Coyotes. The Ducks were one more loss from tying their franchise record in that department.
Like I mentioned above with the Golden Knights, sometimes struggles on the road just need a weaker opponent to snap the mindset and allow the team to get on a roll. That’s what the Oilers will be trying to do against the Ducks as they look to snap a five-game road losing streak. They kick off their three-game California road trip tonight and Leon Draisaitl should have all eyes on him as the 50-goal and 100-point marks are within one for him. The NHL’s leader in goals, Auston Matthews, is also just two goals ahead of Draisaitl and within reach as well.
Troy Terry may be questionable for this game after being beaten up by Jay Beagle in their last game, which will only hurt the offence more if he is ruled out. The Ducks have scored 26 goals over their past 12 games while allowing 45. The Oilers have struggled on the road so I don’t expect them to run up the score like they have been doing at home. Take the Oilers and the under (U6.5, -110).
Odds via Yahoo and BetMGM.
