The Columbus Blue Jackets (7-7-0) and Edmonton Oilers (6-6-4) meet in the NHL tonight. Puck drop is set for 8:30 p.m. EST at Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Oilers are favored by -1.5 on the puck line, with the over/under set at 6.5 (-125o / +105u). The Oilers are a -172 favorite to win outright, while the Blue Jackets are +145 to pull off the upset.
Let's get into my Blue Jackets vs. Oilers predictions and NHL picks.
Blue Jackets vs. Oilers Odds, Pick
| Blue Jackets Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -162 | 6.5 -125o / +105u | +145 |
| Oilers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +136 | 6.5 -125o / +105u | -172 |
- Blue Jackets vs. Oilers Spread: Oilers -1.5 (+136 ), Blue Jackets +1.5 (-162)
- Blue Jackets vs. Oilers Over/Under: 6.5 (-125o / +105u)
- Blue Jackets vs. Oilers Moneyline: Blue Jackets +145, Oilers -172
Blue Jackets vs. Oilers Preview
Columbus Blue Jackets
It’s the fourth game of the Blue Jackets’ road trip, and they’re already 0-3. Playing the Oilers certainly can’t help, though, with Edmonton coming off an embarrassing loss on Saturday (more on that later) and wanting to redeem itself.
Columbus had certainly started the season strong on the road, but this trip hasn’t helped, and a loss tonight would sink itself even deeper in the East.
The Jackets are playing to a league-worst 3.56 xGA/60 since October 27 and a very below-average 46.97 xGF%.
I definitely had a lot more hope for the Jackets this season than others. They’re a fascinating team with great pieces like Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov, but they’re in a black hole in terms of goaltending.
Elvis Merzlikins has yet to recapture the surge of the first two seasons of his career. The numbers look good so far, but since he’s been in the league, he’s been the standard of volatility.
And that explains why in the past three seasons, he’s had a save percentage of under .900%.
Perhaps this season changes things — he’s at .909% — but with an angry Oilers squad coming into town, I have my doubts.
Edmonton Oilers
Is it panic time in Edmonton?
To say that November has been rocky for the Oilers is very much an understatement. In what was supposed to be a massive game on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche, the Oilers got pummeled 9-1 at home.
And prior to that, Edmonton lost back-to-back games against the Stars and the Blues.
To me, it’s still too early to panic, but Colorado is a major threat to the Oilers in the West, and it should be concerning how easy the Avs made it look.
Over the past two weeks, Edmonton has played to a bottom-10 5-on-5 game on both ends of the ice, but luckily, special teams are saving its bacon.
Of course, they have superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, with Zach Hyman nearing a return, but you can only count on two players for so long — no matter how special they are.
The Oilers are a hard team to predict right now, since they stumble out of the gate so frequently, and you never know when they’re ready to take off, but their goaltending situation should not be overlooked.
Stuart Skinner continues to regress as a netminder, posting an .889 SV% and a 0.7 GSAx, with Cal Pickard posting even worse numbers than that.
Blue Jackets vs. Oilers Prediction
I definitely worry about the Oilers, and the attachment they have toward Skinner is weird and confusing. He’s not a Stanley Cup goaltender, and he’s way too volatile for a team that has Cup aspirations.
For Columbus, Merzlikins has yet to pull off a campaign of consistency. He was brutal against the Canucks on Saturday, and he let up two goals in 29 seconds against the Islanders last Sunday.
Even if the Jackets decide to roll out Jet Greaves, I still don’t think they’ll do a great job at containing the Oilers, who are due to light the lamp.
Do the math, and you’ll get your answer here. Goaltending is a weakness for both teams, and there’s an abundance of high-volume scorers.
All of that equates to over 6.5 goals. It seems like a reasonable choice to me.
Pick: Over 6.5 (-125)
