NHL Hockey Betting: Carolina Hurricanes at Edmonton Oilers
A short NHL schedule for Monday night with only five games on the board but three of those games involve Canadian teams. In this matchup we’ll look at the 9:00 PM Eastern matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes at Rexall Place. The Oilers are the most intriguing last place team in NHL history. They’re at the bottom of the Western Conference table but just five points behind the Arizona Coyotes, who currently hold down second place in the Pacific Division. If you’ve paid the lightest bit of attention to the NHL over the past year or two you know the deal with the Oilers–loaded with offensive talent that has chronically underachieved. Things are different now thanks to the arrival of head coach Todd McLellan and ‘generational player’ Connor McDavid. Before he went out with an injury, McDavid was starting to show that he *is* “that good” and more importantly starting to make his teammates better.
There was a silver lining to the dark cloud of his injury–the arrival of Leon Draisaitl and rebirth of Taylor Hall. Draisaitl’s line with Hall and Teddy Purcell has been borderline unstoppable at times. As for Hall specifically, he’s gone from being on the verge of underachieving his way out of Edmonton to playing like an All Star. All Hall has done this season is put up more than a point a game–16 goals, 25 assists for 41 points in 40 games. He’s +11 on a poor defensive team and has a team leading five game winning goals, ranking him third in the NHL. He’s finally showing the physicality that the Oilers expected when they drafted him. Having a linemate like the speedy and brutally talented Draisaitl helps–since his callup from the AHL he’s got 32 points in 30 games (9 goals 23 assists).
This looks like a made to order matchup for the Oilers to win. The Hurricanes are also a bottom ten defensive team but unlike the Oilers they struggle to score goals–the Hurricanes are tied for #25 in the NHL averaging 2.36 goals per game. That’s just above New Jersey but the ‘canes don’t have the steady goaltending of Cory Schnieder to make up for it. Cam Ward will start tonight and he’s been very erratic. He may end up being moved but so far former Canucks’ backup Eddie Lack hasn’t taken over his role. Oilers have won the last two meetings at Rexall place and this looks like a perfect chance to get another win.
BET EDMONTON OILERS -105 OVER CAROLINA HURRICANES
