Welcome back to the postseason Edmonton! The Edmonton Oilers are back in the postseason for the first time in over a decade and the once-proud franchise is looking to win its sixth Stanley Cup. Edmonton made it all the way to the finals the last time it was in the playoffs and a thunderous ‘O Canada!’ is still reverberating around Rogers Place. The Oilers are considered Canada’s second-best hope to reclaim the Cup and are favored to get past the defending Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks in the first round.
Log on to BookMaker online for all the latest NHL puck-lines, totals, moneylines, and props. BookMaker Sportsbook provides the earliest NHL odds and is your one stop shop for all your betting needs. The Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks will clash with a trip to the Western Conference semis on the line. You can watch all the action on the NBC family of networks.
Stanley Cup Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Edmonton Oilers -135
San Jose Sharks +115
Series Schedule
Game 1: San Jose at Edmonton (4/12, 10 p.m. ET, USA)
Game 2: San Jose at Edmonton (4/14, 10:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Game 3: Edmonton at San Jose (4/16, 10 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Game 4: Edmonton at San Jose (4/18, 10 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Game 5: San Jose at Edmonton (If Necessary, 4/20, TBD)
Game 6: Edmonton at San Jose (If Necessary, 4/22, TBD)
Game 7: San Jose at Edmonton (If Necessary, 4/24, TBD)
Key Players
Who else could it be but Connor McDavid for Edmonton? McDavid has already started to live up to his immense hype in his second season in the NHL and claimed the Art Ross Trophy with the NHL’s only 100-point season. He is considered the favorite to win the Hart Trophy this year as well thanks to his fantastic play and unlike others, didn’t run up his goal total on the power play. McDavid is the engine that runs this team and without him there’s no doubt the Oilers wouldn’t have made the postseason.
The Sharks might be without two of their best veterans for this series. Joe Thornton missed the final three games of the regular season with a knee injury and although he said he will be able to play in this series, knees are tricky and he is getting up there in age. Also, Logan Couture has been out for over two weeks after getting hit in the face by a puck and it’s unclear whether or not he will suit up. Thornton and Couture are San Jose’s top two centers and missing them would be massive.
Key Stats
No goaltender logged more ice time than Cam Talbot did this season and he did it by a wide margin. Talbot ended up on the ice almost 500 minutes longer than any other goaltender and had seven more starts than his next closest counterpart. That kind of usage is rare to see these days and it leads to two major problems for the Oilers. The first is if the extra wear and tear might lead to an injury in the postseason, but the second might be even scarier. Without a proven backup behind Talbot, if he gets a case of the yips it could spell a quick end for this team.
Brent Burns tallied more points than any other defenseman in the NHL this season and it will be on him to kickstart a Sharks offense that sputtered down the stretch. He had eight more points than the second leading scorer on San Jose and 24 more than the third leading scorer and stopping him is a must for Edmonton.
Free NHL Series ATS Pick
This might be the most underrated series of them all. No one seems to expect either of these teams to advance too far in the playoffs, but San Jose has Burns and a bunch of veterans who were there last season while Edmonton has McDavid. With scoring talents like those two, we should be in for a treat of series. This one will go seven but home ice will carry the day.
NHL Playoff Series Odds: Oilers win the series 4-3
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