Canucks vs Oilers: Prediction, Odds, Team News and Goalscorer Picks

Edmonton scores more goals per game than any other club in the NHL and sits third on points. Vancouver sits 32nd. The two have already played a 6-5 and a 9-7 against each other this season, and 27 goals in two nights is not the record of a mismatch.

Edmonton’s problem is the crease. Tristan Jarry is day to day with an illness, Devon Levi and Frederik Andersen are both on injured reserve, and the goaltender left has made two appearances all season.

How to watch in Canada

Check your provider before puck drop: coverage varies by region and some parts of Canada are blacked out. We keep the full breakdown on our how to watch the NHL in Canada page.

Canucks vs Oilers odds at Canadian sportsbooks

For the other eleven games, see the NHL odds page.

Goalie matchup

Matt Tomkins stopped 27 of 28 shots in New York on 1 November and then conceded five on 21 against Anaheim on Thursday. Two games tell you very little. What they do not tell you is enough to make a fourth-choice goaltender a comfortable proposition against a club that came to Rogers Place in September and won it in overtime. Leevi Merilainen offers Vancouver no answer either. He has not reached .890 in any of his last five.

Team news

The goalie room is the headline and it is not the whole list. Zach Hyman is on injured reserve with a neck injury, and Matt Savoie, Mattias Janmark and Isaac Howard are out with him. Vancouver is missing Thatcher Demko, whose hip has kept him out all season, along with Filip Chytil and Tom Willander.

The full league picture is on our NHL injury report.

How they compare this season

Edmonton scores more than anyone in the league. Vancouver concedes more than anyone in the league. Those two facts sit either side of this game and most of what follows is a footnote to them.

Special teams

Vancouver kills 63.3 per cent of the penalties it takes, which is 31st. Edmonton’s power play converts 33.9 per cent, which is third. Nothing else on this page moves the game as far. There is a route back for Vancouver, mind: its own power play is 17th and Edmonton’s kill is 21st, so an even night of penalties is a far better night for the visitors than a busy one.

Players to watch

Connor McDavid has 44 points in 17 games and 34 of them are assists. Leon Draisaitl has 14 goals. Elias Pettersson leads Vancouver on 18 points with five of them in his last five games, and Brock Boeser has scored in three of his last five.

Recent meetings

These clubs have met 300 times and Edmonton leads 169-131. The season series so far has produced an overtime win for Vancouver and a nine-goal night for Edmonton, which is about as wide a pair of results as two clubs can trade in three days.

How the last meeting unfolded

Edmonton led 8-2 eight minutes into the second period on 1 October, with McDavid and Kasperi Kapanen scoring shorthanded 34 seconds apart. Vancouver scored five of the six goals that followed. Marco Rossi got two of them inside three minutes.

Where both clubs shoot from

Edmonton took 53 attempts in that game to Vancouver’s 48, and at even strength Vancouver actually had the better of it, 36 to 34. Nine of Edmonton’s attempts went in. The gap between these clubs that night was not where the shots came from.

Results so far

Score prediction

Vancouver has lost 14 of 18 and concedes better than four and a half goals a game. Edmonton is at home and scores better than four. The reason this is not a wider prediction is the goaltender Edmonton has to dress.

Canucks vs Oilers prediction

Edmonton has the best scoring record in the league, home ice, and an opponent whose penalty kill ranks 31st. Vancouver has won once in its last ten.

The case against is the Edmonton crease. Tomkins is the fourth name on that depth chart, and Vancouver has put six and seven past this club already this season. The total looks the more interesting market.

Our pick: Edmonton to win. Canucks 3–5 Oilers. What would change it: if Jarry were confirmed fit. Illness is the one absence on Edmonton’s list that can clear overnight, and his return would take the only real doubt out of this.

The NHL power rankings is where both clubs sit against the league; the rest of Saturday’s card is on the NHL schedule. If the player markets interest you more than the result, start at our NHL player props page.

19+ (18+ in AB, MB and QC). Picks are opinion, not advice, and odds change constantly. Availability varies by province. Please play responsibly. ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600 for Ontario residents; see your province’s helpline for resources elsewhere.