Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks meet in one of the more challenging games to predict on the NHL schedule today, despite seeming straightforward statistically or on the betting lines. Why? Continue reading below to get our best Oilers vs Blackhawks betting prediction and much more.
You do not know what either team’s goaltending will be capable of or what type of performances they’ll put in night after night.
Despite both teams’ terrible goaltending, we’ll sort through the odds, stats, and recent trends to make sense of the goaltending situation in our Edmonton Oilers vs Chicago Blackhawks betting prediction and find the best betting picks possible.
Puck drop is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. You can catch this game on TNT.
Last Game Records
This is the second head-to-head matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks in 2022-23. The Oilers won the first game 6-5 on October 27th.
Although much has changed for both NHL teams since last season, the Blackhawks won the 2021-2022 head-to-head season series 2-1 over the Oilers.
Chicago averaged 3.33 goals per game, while the Oilers averaged 3.00 goals.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks Betting Analysis
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers enter Wednesday night’s game with a 12-10 record. The Oilers have won their last two games and three of their previous five.
Four of Edmonton’s last five games have hit the over of 6.5 goals, while only two games – both losses – have ended with a 1.5 goal spread.
McDavid Leadership
Connor McDavid is the Edmonton Oilers scoring leader with an incredible thirty-nine points (seventeen goals, twenty-two assists).
McDavid is the NHL stats leader, and if he played all 82 games for the Oilers, he is currently on pace to score 145 points (1.77 points per game).
Unless the Oilers get shut out, McDavid to score a point or two should be a prop bet target. The Oilers are averaging 3.36 goals per game on 32.3 shots while giving up 3.55 goals on 33.4 shots.
Oilers’ Powerplay
Edmonton’s powerplay is among the NHL’s best, converting on 28.8% of their opportunities (twenty-three powerplay goals).
While the Oilers can score in bunches – as expected, Edmonton struggles to keep the puck out of the net, giving up twenty-three powerplay goals against (73.3% penalty kill efficiency).
Edmonton’s goaltending situation is a mess, and predicting who will start is more complex than making our Oilers vs Blackhawks betting prediction.
Stuart Skinner started the Oilers’ last game and five of the last seven and has a 5-5-0 record, a 2.81 goals-against average, and a .919 save percentage.
Jack Campbell has been awful for the Oilers, posting a 7-5-0 record, a 4.04 goals-against average, and a .875 save percentage.
Chicago Blackhawks
You need to look to the bottom of the NHL standings to find the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago is ranked thirty-first overall in the league, with only the Anaheim Ducks having a worse record.
The Blackhawks are in full rebuild mode and enter Wednesday’s game with a 6-11-4 record.
The Blackhawks have lost seven games in a row, with six of those seven games ending with at least a 1.5-goal spread. Five of the Blackhawks’ last seven games have hit the over of 6.5.
NHL Player Stats
Patrick Kane’s days of being among the NHL player stats leaders may be behind him, but Kane is still the Blackhawks’ leading scorer with sixteen points (three goals, thirteen assists).
Chicago averages 2.48 goals per game on 26.3 shots while giving up 3.62 goals on 34.7 shots. Despite having a horrible record and their goals focused around the draft lottery, the Blackhawks’ powerplay has performed to the league average, converting on 21.9% of their chances (fourteen powerplay goals).
Blackhawks Penalty Killers
Chicago’s penalty-killers haven’t been great, but they aren’t that far off the Oilers’ penalty-killing statistics: twenty power play goals against and a 72.6% penalty-killing efficiency.
The Chicago Blackhawks have been rotating their goalies each game over their last nine games, potentially hoping to find a winning performance or because this was the plan all along.
We’re going to assume this regular swapping of goalies will continue, and the Blackhawks will start Arvid Soderblom against the Oilers. Soderblom has a 2-4-2 record, a 3.00 goals-against average, and a .910 save percentage.
NHL Injury Report
The Edmonton Oilers have added right-winger Kailer Yamamoto to the NHL injury report, placing him on the injured reserve list.
As for the Chicago Blackhawks injuries, Jarred Tinordi and Sam Lafferty are both listed as out.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks Betting Preview
Before we give our Oilers vs Blackhawks betting prediction, we need to review the odds and betting records.
Moneyline
NHL odds have the Edmonton Oilers listed as the moneyline favorite, ranging from -210 to -225. The Chicago Blackhawks are the moneyline underdog, with odds ranging from +172 and +180.
The Oilers have a 12-10 straight-up moneyline record, while the Blackhawks are 6-15 straight-up.
Puckline
The Oilers are listed at -1.5 goals on the puck line spread with odds ranging from +105 to +118. The Blackhawks are listed at +1.5 on the puck line spread, with odds from -133 and -141.
Chicago has an 11-10 against-the-spread record, while Edmonton is 11-11 against the spread.
Total
The total goals line is set at 6.5 goals, although you can find alternate total goals betting lines on this and most NHL matchups.
The over has odds from -110 to -115, while the under is listed from -104 to -106. The over might be among our Oilers vs Blackhawks predictions and NHL picks: The Oilers have a 12-8 over/under record, while the Blackhawks are 12-9 over/under.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks Betting Prediction
Statistically speaking, our Oilers vs Blackhawks betting prediction should be easy. If Edmonton had a goalie they could rely on for consistent performances, they would not be struggling to stack wins and wouldn’t be worried about their playoff future.
It’s still November, the Oilers goaltending and defense continue to let the franchise down, and Edmonton actually has to be concerned about their playoff futures.
Oilers’ Goaltending
Again, it’s only November, and the Oilers’ goaltending has the team’s future in doubt.
No, our Oilers vs Blackhawks betting prediction is not for the Chicago Blackhawks to win on the moneyline.
Connor McDavid and a reflective traffic cone for a goalie should beat the Blackhawks on the moneyline. If you want to make a moneyline bet, you should take the Oilers because they are the better team and should win this game.
The odds even suggest taking the Oilers to cover the -1.5 goal spread. The safe bets are to take the Oilers on the moneyline and against the spread. We’re not taking the Oilers against the spread or on the moneyline.
Our first Oilers vs Blackhawks betting prediction is for this game to hit the over. The goaltending is awful, and the Oilers can score.
Further, these two teams hit the over in their first meeting, have hit the over consistently recently, and have great over/under records favoring the over.
Who to Bet On?
We’ll take the over of 6.5 goals. Our second Oilers vs Blackhawks betting prediction is for the Chicago Blackhawks to cover the spread of +1.5 goals.
Yes, the Blackhawks have only covered a 1.5-goal spread in one of their last five games. However, in the four games in which the Hawks did not cover the spread, they faced very strong goaltending from Winnipeg, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Boston.
Edmonton’s goaltending is not nearly as good as these four teams. We’ll take the over of 6.5 and the Chicago Blackhawks to cover the spread (+1.5) at -133 and -141 odds.
NHL Pick: Blackhawks +1.5 (-133)
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