If robust boxscores float your boat and high-skill, multi-point efforts rev your engine, then you probably perk up any time the Edmonton Oilers are in action.
It’s a relatively light schedule in the NHL Wednesday with four games on the docket but Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey this week features the high-flying Oilers hosting a Nashville Predators team coming off an overtime win Tuesday night in Calgary thanks to Matt Duchene’s third of the season.
While it’s not an arduous trip from Calgary to Edmonton, playing back-to-back nights while travelling in between and coming off a nice win sets up as a classic letdown spot for the Predators.
In other action, the Blackhawks host the Hurricanes, the Avalanche welcome the Blue Jackets and the Blues visit the Kings in games available on SN NOW Premium.
Here are some player prop bets to keep an eye on during Wednesday’s slate.
Draisaitl often feasts on this familiar foe
Heading into Wednesday’s action, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were tied for the NHL lead in points with seven goals and 10 assists each through eight games. McDavid had been alone at the top basically the entire season but Draisaitl has points in all but one game so far this season and a four-point night against Seattle on Monday has him tied with his superstar teammate.
The Art Ross, Pearson and Hart winner from two seasons ago has been primarily skating beside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto and that trio’s chemistry is paying dividends.
Oddsmakers are expecting Draisaitl, who turned 26 last week, to extend his point streak with an anytime point listed as heavy -370 chalk – McDavid’s anytime point odds are identical.
Between his current hot streak and a strong history of success against Nashville, there’s plenty of reason to think the German can show out at Rogers Place and continue adding to his impressive point totals.
Draisaitl has five goals in his past four games overall and 14 goals in 17 career games facing the Predators. His career 0.82 goals per game versus Nashville is his highest personal goal rate versus any team in the NHL.
In fact, he has five career multi-goal games playing against Nashville and completely dominated them in three games in 2019-20 where he tallied eight combined goals plus two assists.
With that in mind, one goal from Draisaitl on Wednesday would pay even money (+100) while two goals is set at +400 and a hat trick would net a +2400 return. A multi-point effort from Draisaitl would also see a plus-money return — +118 for a two-point night, +243 for a three-point effort. If Draisaitl hypothetically notched his third four-point game of the young season, it would carry +769 odds.
MacKinnon and Landeskog shot totals
Nathan MacKinnon has at least one point in all six games this season but only one goal. Is he due to break out against the Blue Jackets?
Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen and Andre Burakovsky are among the Avs unavailable against the Columbus, which means more pressure and even more opportunity for both MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog to touch the puck.
The Blue Jackets allow more shots per game than any team besides the Oilers, which makes Landeskog’s (3.5) and MacKinnon’s (4.5) shot totals intriguing. Landeskog has reached the four-shot mark in four of his six games this season, while MacKinnon has two five-shot games in his past three outings.
Columbus’s expected starter, Elvis Merzlikins, is 4-1-0 this year and has faced an average of 32.6 shots per game.
BARGAIN HUNTING
There’s not always great value when betting on streaking star players or expected outcomes, which is why it can often benefit a bettor to chase value and seek out longer odds from players on slumps or those flying under the radar.
Here are a couple players in action Wednesday laying some juicy odds for their first goal of the season.
Seth Jones anytime goal +550: Chicago’s big off-season acquisition’s eight assists lead his team and are tied for second among all NHL blueliners but Jones hasn’t yet registered his first goal with the Blackhawks. Jones isn’t known for lighting the lamp often, but he does score in more than 10 per cent of the games he skates in on average. Jones scored his first goal of 2020-21 in his 11th game of the season and has an opportunity to do the same Wednesday. It’s a tough matchup against the unbeaten Hurricanes but Jones ranks eighth in the league in average ice-time and is tied for 12th in total shots on goal so the opportunities will be there.
Jordan Kyrou anytime goal +350: The fourth-year forward has gone relatively quiet since the opening week of the season in which he began his campaign with a two- then four-point night. Since then, however, he has just three assists in five games. He’s playing on St. Louis’s top line with Brayden Schenn and David Perron so these are tempting odds to lay if you’re thinking he could end his mini drought – although bear in mind he has never scored a goal in 12 career games against the Kings.
All listed betting odds via Bodog as of Wednesday morning
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