The Edmonton Oilers will host the first of two games against the Montréal Canadiens on Monday. The Canadiens defeated Edmonton the last time these teams played, 3-2 in overtime.
Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for this North Division battle at the Rogers Place. Edmonton is the favorite at -132. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts the odds Montréal at +110 as the underdog.
Montréal lost a pair of defensemen over the last week, as both Erik Gustafsson and Jon Merrill will be out. Edmonton lost defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.
Canadiens Blanked by Senators
Matt Murray earned his first shutout in two years as Ottawa defeated Edmonton, 4-0. Carey Price faced only 14 shots, stopping just 11 of them. Meanwhile, Montréal could only muster 23 shots as Montréal dominated this game in every way but on the scoreboard.
Montréal is 13th in goals per game at 2.95 and is 19th in shooting percentage at 9.2%. They are 21st on the power-play at 19.1%. Tyler Toffoli leads the team in scoring with 32 points and has 21 goals the season. Jeff Petry is right behind at 30 points and leads the Canadiens with 19 assists.
Montréal is also 13th in goals allowed per game at 2.76. They are 22nd in penalty killing at 77.2%. Price will likely be back in the net on Monday. He is 12-7-5 with a 2.67 GAA and a .900 save percentage. Price has allowed 10 total goals in his last three starts.
Smith, Oilers Blank Jets
Mike Smith stopped all 26 shots he faced as Edmonton defeated Winnipeg, 3-0. Tyson Barrie had a goal and an assist for the Oilers and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each added two assists.
Edmonton is ninth in goals per game at 3.19 and is sixth in shooting percentage at 10.8%. The power-play is third in the NHL at 27.0%. With his two assists against Winnipeg McDavid now has 71 points to lead the NHL. The star has 23 goals and 48 assists. Draisaitl has 63 points.
The Oilers are 15th in goals allowed per game at 2.79 and are 16th in penalty killing at 79.5%. The shutout was the third for Smith, who is now 15-4-2 with a 2.36 GAA and a .922 save percentage. That was a great rebound performance after allowing five goals in his previous start.
Trends:
Montréal:
- 2-5 in their last seven games.
- 3-9 in their last 12 games on the road.
Edmonton:
- 7-0 in their last seven games at home.
- 23-11 in their last 34 games overall.
Edmonton has dominated the Canadiens in Edmonton, winning 13 of the last 19 meetings there. Plus, they are playing exceptionally well right now while Montréal is struggling to build some consistency. I love the way that McDavid and Draisaitl are playing, and they definitely are going to have a huge impact on this contest.
Pick: Take Edmonton at -132.
The Total:
I will admit that I am not overly impressed with Price of late, who has been inconsistent this season. However, Smith has been exceptional, and I could see him holding a struggling Canadiens team to less than three goals. The question then becomes if Edmonton scores four goals or more, and I do not see that here. These teams have gone under in six straight contests and I will go with that as well.
Pick: Go under 6.0 (-120).