Anaheim Ducks vs Edmonton Oilers Prediction: Best Bet for Thursday

Edmonton scores four goals a night and its captain has forty points before mid-November. Anaheim scores plenty itself and converts thirty-eight percent of its power plays, so the Oilers' ordinary penalty kill is the one thread the Ducks can pull all night.

The Matchup

Edmonton is 11-2-3, scoring 4.12 goals per game and allowing 2.88, a +1.24 differential, and the Oilers are 7-0-1 at home. Connor McDavid leads Edmonton, and the league, with 31 assists and 40 points, and Leon Draisaitl has 13 goals. The Oilers have lost once in regulation at home all season because their even-strength scoring comes in waves that a period rarely survives intact.

Anaheim is 7-7-1, scoring a lively 3.60 per game and allowing 3.80, a -0.20 differential that makes every Ducks game a trade. Leo Carlsson leads Anaheim with 17 assists and 22 points, and Cutter Gauthier has 10 goals. The Ducks have won three of their last five and can absolutely score with Edmonton for stretches. Their problem is the stretches at the other end.

Anaheim is also missing Troy Terry, who is on injured reserve with a hip injury, and Ryan Poehling is on injured reserve too. Edmonton lists Zach Hyman on injured reserve and Isaac Howard out, losses the Oilers' depth has already absorbed.

Key Factors

Special teams are a fire alarm in both directions. Anaheim converts 38.0 percent on the power play, the best mark on the slate, against an Edmonton kill of 73.9 percent. Edmonton converts 33.9 percent against an Anaheim kill of 74.6 percent. If the officials call this game tight, it becomes a shootout either way, and a shootout is the Ducks' best route into it.

At even strength, the game tilts hard. Edmonton allows 2.88 per game, Anaheim allows 3.80, and the crease comparison matches: Tristan Jarry has a 2.57 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage for the Oilers, against Lukas Dostal at 3.56 and .872 for the Ducks.

Anaheim's underdog case is the power play plus Carlsson's line trading goals for sixty minutes. It fails because the trade itself favors the team that defends better between power plays, and that gap, nearly a goal a game, is the largest even-strength edge in this matchup.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.