The Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers continue to have a flair for the dramatic, with their all-Canadian Stanley Cup Playoffs series featuring another tense, one-goal game on Friday. With the series all tied up, the Oilers now get to host the next two games with their sights set on getting closer to the Western Conference Final.
Bet on Canucks vs. Oilers GM 3
The moneyline favourites are the Oilers, coming in between -210 and -183.
Canucks vs. Oilers Best Odds
| Canucks Moneyline Odds | +170 @ Sports Interaction |
| Oilers Moneyline Odds | -183 @ Pinnacle |
| Puckline odds | Oilers -1.5 (+130) @ Bet365 Canucks +1.5 (-43) @ Tonybet |
| Series odds | Oilers -270, Canucks +220 @ Bet365 |
| Total | Over 6.5 goals (+101) @ Pinnacle Under 6.5 goals (-113) @ Pinnacle |
| Time/Date | May 12, 9:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | Broadcast: CBC, Sportsnet, TVA Sports Stream: Sportsnet+ (How to watch the NHL in Canada?) |
Last Matchup
Friday’s Game 2 didn’t start off in the exact same way as Wednesday’s Game 1, but it did rhyme. This time, the Oilers were the team who took a penalty in the early minutes, and the Canucks made no mistake in taking advantage, as Elias Pettersson got the monkey off his back with his first goal of the playoffs a little over four minutes into regulation. Leon Draisaitl responded with a powerplay tally of his own a few minutes later, though, bringing the Oilers back even.
This would be a recurring trend throughout the game, with neither team ever having insurance over the other. Brock Boeser put the Canucks up again in the first minute of the second period, only to be responded to 23 seconds later by Mattias Ekholm. Nikita Zadorov scored a bit of a soft goal on Stuart Skinner to make it a 3-2 game late in the second, and Connor McDavid tied it back up early in the third. The game eventually went to overtime, and at nearly an identical time to McDavid’s third-period goal, Evan Bouchard threw a shot on goal off the wall, which deflected off Canucks defenceman Ian Cole and gave Edmonton the win.
Betting Vancouver Canucks (5-3 SU, 6-2 ATS, 4-4 o/u)
After an inspired late-game showing on Wednesday, Canucks fans were disappointed with the team’s inability to take the momentum and run with it on Friday. While the team wasn’t necessarily bad as a collective, they never seemed to grasp the game and take control of it, and a few depth players in particular seemed to struggle.
Nils Hoglander was a forward identified by Rick Tocchet as someone who could come out as a result of a disappointing effort. “He needs more, yeah. What I mean is, you know, I think for me, we need more from him.” said the Canucks head coach. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with him right now if we’re going to make some lineup changes. Because, you know, I didn’t like his game yesterday. We’ve got to figure a few things out here.”
Nils Aman, Vasily Podkolzin and Linus Karlsson were all identified as forwards who could come in tonight. Noah Juulsen could draw in on the blue line as well. Tocchet made a point to stress that it wouldn’t automatically be for Ian Cole if that was the case, though with a disappointing night in a lot of ways and an unfortunate factoring-in on the winner, that’s where many people’s focus has wandered.
Betting Edmonton Oilers (5-2 SU, 2-5 ATS, 6-1 o/u)
The Oilers needed a response game from their big dogs on Friday, and got exactly that. Most obviously, the eyes of the hockey world turned to Connor McDavid after having gone without a shot in a playoff game for the first time in Game 1, eager to see how he would respond.
The response? Well, five shots, a goal, three assists, and about an 80% share of the shot and shot quality share while on the ice. Once in a while, he gives us a reminder of just how good he can be, and this was the game that hockey fans deserved to see.
Also impressive is what Leon Draisaitl was able to do despite his mobility obviously being hampered. Draisaitl wasn’t even confirmed to draw in until after pre-game warmups, and still netted four points and four shots on goal. On his goal, we saw him take one stride while effectively getting the second assist on his own goal.
“He’s a great player,” said Connor McDavid of Draisaitl after the game. “He’s an amazing player. One of the best players in the world. The best player in the world on a lot of nights and tonight was one of those nights. He was great.”
The Oilers could obviously do with some more punch from their depth tonight, as one line winning the game on their own isn’t sustainable, but they’ll enjoy what they got out of their dynamic duo on Thursday.
Projected Canucks vs. Oilers Lines
| Today’s Edmonton Oilers Lines | Today’s Vancouver Canucks Lines |
|---|---|
| Forwards Leon Draisaitl – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman Adam Henrique – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Evander Kane Warren Foegele – Ryan McLeod – Corey Perry Dylan Holloway – Derek Ryan – Mattias Janmark Defence Mattias Ekholm – Evan Bouchard Darnell Nurse – Cody Ceci Brett Kulak – Vincent Desharnais Starting In Goal Stuart Skinner PO: 5-1-1, 2.96 GAA, 0.888 SV% Season: 36-16-5, 2.62 GAA, 0.905 SV% | Forwards Pius Suter – JT Miller – Brock Boeser Nils Hoglander – Elias Pettersson – Ilya Mikheyev Dakota Joshua – Elias Lindholm – Conor Garland Phil Di Giuseppe – Teddy Blueger – Sam Lafferty Defence Quinn Hughes – Filip Hronek Carson Soucy – Tyler Myers Nikita Zadorov – Ian Cole Starting In Goal Arturs Silovs PO: 3-1-1, 2.58 GAA, 0.899 SV% RS: 3-0-1, 2.47 GAA, 0.881 SV% |
Adam Henrique returned to the Oilers lineup on Friday, and that allowed Edmonton to bump Leon Draisaitl up to the top line, perhaps giving him some support as he plays through an injury suffered in Game 3. Connor Brown came out for Henrique. Right now, we expect that arrangement to stay the same tonight.
The Canucks could see some changes tonight, with Rick Tocchet hinting at it yesterday – but as with most cases of the playoff cone-of-silence, we’ve seen nothing confirmed yet.
Canucks vs. Oilers Injury Concerns
The Oilers are healthy from an availability standpoint. Players are undoubtedly banged up – Leon Draisaitl is the man most have their eyes on here – but they’re playing through it. For the Canucks, Thatcher Demko still seems unlikely to see until at least Game 5.
NHL Betting Trends
- The Canucks have won six of their last ten games against the Oilers. They’re 8-2 against the puckline over those same games, and have a 5-3-2 record against the total goals line.
- Overall, Vancouver are 6-4 in their last ten games, with a 7-3 record against the puck line and a perfect split of five overs and five unders against the total goals line.
- The Oilers are also 6-4 across their last ten games played, though their puckline record is the opposite at 3-7. They’ve eclipsed the total goals line eight times in that stretch.
NHL Player Prop Trends
- Connor McDavid leads the way for the Oilers in assists and points over their last ten games, with sixteen and nineteen respectively. Zach Hyman leads the team in goals with ten, while he, Leon Draisaitl, and Warren Foegele have 32 shots a piece.
- JT Miller leads the Canucks in points over their last ten, with three goals and seven assists, the latter co-leading the team with Quinn Hughes. He also has a team-leading 23 shots.
- Elias Pettersson snapped his goal drought on Friday, but still finds himself struggling with just a goal and four assists in Vancouver’s last ten. Also shockingly quiet is Filip Hronek, who has no points in his last dozen games and just ten shots on goal.
Canucks vs. Oilers Predictions
- Evan Bouchard is hot in Edmonton, with the OT winner giving him at least one point for the eighth time in his past nine games. His pairing has spent significantly more time with Connor McDavid’s line in the playoffs than they did in the regular season. If you like him to continue his point streak, currently sitting at five games, you’ll find the best value on betway at -200. If you think it’s snapped tonight, Pinnacle has the best deal on him going pointless at +158.
- If you’re a believer in reverse jinxes, Filip Hronek snapping that aforementioned 12-game point drought tonight pays off best at theScore Bet, coming in at +170.
- The over has been hot in this series and for the Oilers in general in this run, so it’s hard not to go back to it. The market gives a slight edge to the under tonight, but you can take this game to eclipse 6.5 goals for +101 on Pinnacle.
