The Edmonton Oilers (16-12-6) and Boston Bruins (20-14-0) meet in the NHL tonight. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST at TD Garden in Boston, Mass. 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. The Oilers are a 57-cent favorite to win outright, while the Bruins are priced at 44-cents to pull off the upset at Fanatics Markets.
Let's get into my Oilers vs. Bruins predictions and NHL picks.
Oilers vs. Bruins Odds, Pick
- Oilers vs. Bruins Spread: Oilers -1.5 (35-cents), Bruins +1.5 (67-cents)
- Oilers vs. Bruins Over/Under: 6.5 (51-cents / 52-cents)
- Oilers vs. Bruins Moneyline: Oilers 57-cents, Bruins 44-cents
Oilers vs. Bruins Preview
Edmonton Oilers
And coming around the turn is the Oilers, who are back where we’re used to seeing them.
Edmonton is currently in the midst of a five-game road trip, and aside from a 4-1 loss to the Canadiens, the Oilers have to be feeling good about themselves.
The second December hit, a switch flipped. Now, they’re playing at a top-10 5-on-5 pace with a decent defense, and dare I say… solid goaltending?
I’ll pump the brakes before I crown Tristan Jarry the savior of Edmonton, but I think I feel more confident in Jarry than I would with Stuart Skinner.
Real low bar, I know, but it can only go up from here, can’t it?
Regardless, Edmonton is winning games, something that it needed for the first two months. And not to mention, we were able to see Leon Draisaitl reach 1,000 career points on Tuesday against Pittsburgh.
Not to mention, Connor McDavid is losing his mind, registering 20 points in his past seven games.
Yeah, I know.
What has also helped is that the Oilers are back to holding the league’s top power play, scoring at an eye-popping 42% with the man advantage in the month of December.
Boston Bruins
Similar to their counterparts, the Bruins have enjoyed a fairly prosperous month of December as well.
They recently came out on top against the Mammoth by the score of 4-1 and aside from that, they have won five out of their previous six contests.
A lot of it is on the back of Morgan Geekie, one of the league’s most unlikely leaders in goals. He just netted three goals against Utah, and recorded three assists in the win last week against the Jets.
Another part of it is David Pastrnak, who we’re used to seeing light up the scoresheet as well, with nine points in his previous four contests.
But what’s interesting is that the Bruins’ 5-on-5 play has drastically suffered this month, as it’s playing to an eighth-worst 47.35 xGF% and fifth-worst defensively with a 3.15 xGA/60.
It’s been mainly the goaltending and special teams that Boston has relied upon.
The Bruins have the fifth-best power play in the league, and you have to imagine that the aforementioned goal scorers have been driving that bus.
Jeremy Swayman has been an elite netminder, with the third-highest GSAx of the season, and playing to an 8.9 GSAx over the past 10 games.
Oilers vs. Bruins Prediction
You can truly go any which way with these teams because both have been winning games convincingly.
However, I think I’m going to go with the over on this. Since going on this hot streak, Edmonton has found itself in a myriad of high-scoring duels, as has Boston.
In the month of December, Boston has played in seven games, and the total has gone above 6.5 five times. For the Oilers, they’ve played in eight, and the total has gone over 6.5 five times as well.
Given how much of a heater the Oilers are on, and Boston’s struggling 5-on-5 play, yet exceptional power play, I think this is the perfect opportunity for there to be a red-light party in Beantown.
Pick: Over 6.5
