Two clubs squaring off for the first time this year, the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Rangers meet at Madison Square Garden in a cross-continent showdown. Sportsnet West will broadcast the matchup, which gets going at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 13.
Edmonton Oilers at New York Rangers Odds
Edmonton (-115) is currently the favorite over New York (-105), and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at an even 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -105 for the over and -115 on the under.
Losing 1.7 units for moneyline bettors, New York is 1-3 straight up (SU) overall in the 2018-19 season. That early-season winning percentage is a regression from the 34-48 record that the team posted during the 2017-18 season campaign. This year, the team’s 1-1 SU at home.
The Broadway Blueshirts have successfully scored on 10.0 percent of their power play opportunities so far. That’s a big drop-off from last season, when they were ranked 12th in the league by scoring on 21.2 percent of their extra-man chances. Their penalty kill has fallen off significantly year-over-year as they’ve gone from successfully defending 81.4 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked eighth overall last season) to 75.0 percent this year.
As a collective unit, the Rangers have been called for penalties 5.0 times per game this season, a number that’s regressed from last year’s 3.5 penalties per game they gave up. After serving an average of 8.0 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s had to stave off opponent power plays for 10.8 minutes per matchup this season.
Averaging 32.3 saves per game with a .942 save percentage, Henrik Lundqvist (1-2) has been the primary goalkeeper for the Broadway Blueshirts this season. If head coach David Quinn chooses to rest him, however, the team might go with Alexandar Georgiev (0-1-1 record, .821 save percentage, 7.19 goals against average).
The Broadway Blueshirts will continue to rely on offensive production from Jesper Fast and Mats Zuccarello. Fast (four points) has put up one goal and three assists while Zuccarello has three assists to his credit so far in the early stages of the season.
On the other side of the rink, Edmonton is 0-2 straight up (SU) and has lost 2.1 units for bettors taking the moneyline thus far. A total of one of its matches has gone over the total, while another one has gone under the total and none have pushed. As the away team, the Oilers are 0-2 SU so far.
The Oilers have recorded a goal on 16.7 percent of their power play chances this year after successfully converting on 14.8 percent of their extra-man opportunities in 2017-18 (a mark that was ranked just 31st in the NHL). The team’s gone from successfully defending 76.7 percent of opponent power plays (ranked 25th overall last season) to 50.0 percent this year.
Edmonton’s skaters have been penalized 4.0 times per game this season, a number that is up some over the 3.6 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 9.2 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has had to kill penalties for 9.5 minutes per outing this season.
The winless Cam Talbot (25.0 saves per game) has been the main option in goal for Edmonton. Talbot owns a 0-2 record, while registering a .877 save percentage and 3.57 goals against average this year.
Edmonton Oilers vs. New York Rangers Free Picks
NHL Tip: SU Winner – Rangers, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
New York has yet to win a game by two or more goals this season.
The Oilers are 0-1 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Rangers are 1-2 SU when they spend more time in the box than the opposition.
The total has gone under in three of New York’s last five outings.
Edmonton skaters converted 8.2 takeaways per matchup while yielding 12.5 giveaways per game in 2017-18
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