Jets vs Oilers 2020 NHL Game Preview & Betting Odds

Jets vs Oilers 2020 NHL Game Preview & Betting Odds

Written by on March 11, 2020

The Edmonton Oilers are going to make the playoffs and the Winnipeg Jets might. They could conceivably meet in the first round if the seedings shake out right. They close the regular-season series on Wednesday with Edmonton favored at home on the Mybookie odds. Let’s see how the NHL odds will be for the Jets vs Oilers.

Jets vs Oilers 2020 NHL Game Preview & Betting Odds

Jets vs Oilers Season Series

Teams have split two meetings. They most recently played Leap Day in Edmonton, with the Oilers prevailing 3-2. Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the tiebreaker with 5:16 remaining and assisted on both of Draisaitl’s goals. Logan Shaw and Kyle Connor scored for the Jets. Winnipeg had intense pressure with their goalie pulled for the final couple minutes, but Mike Smith was solid to preserve the win, finishing with 38 saves.

Why Bet on Winnipeg?

The Jets hold the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference as of this writing and won their third game in a row Monday, 4-2 at home vs. Arizona. The Coyotes led 2-0 in the first period.

Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two assists in the win. Ehlers cut Winnipeg’s deficit to 2-1 early in the second period and he also assisted on Tucker Poolman’s game-tying goal. The Jets forward also had an assist on Cody Eakin’s game-winner in the third period. Ehlers finished with a plus-2 rating and two shots on goal in 11:38 of ice time. The 24-year-old has five points in his last two games. He’s up to 25 goals and 57 points in 70 games this season.

As for Eakin, he broke a 2-all tie for the Jets at 11:33 of the third when he picked up the puck and backhanded a shot past Arizona netminder Darcy Kuemper. It was Eakin’s first goal since being acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 21.  Poolman also had a multi-point night with a goal and an assist. It was the first multi-point game of his career.

The Jets were without blueliner Carl Dahlstrom. Dahlstrom (broken hand) was activated from injured reserve Monday but wasn’t quite ready. Forward Adam Lowry was back in the lineup on Monday night. Lowry replaced Jansen Harkins in his return to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 19 because of an upper-body injury. On his first shift, Lowry ran over Arizona forward Vinnie Hinostroza behind the Jets net and followed that up with a one-sided fight with Lawson Crouse.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 36 of 38 shots. Hellebuyck gave up two goals to Nick Schmaltz in the first period, but he was perfect the rest of the way. The Jets netminder has now won three games in a row. He owns a 30-21-5 record with a 2.58 goals-against-average and a .922 save percentage this season.

Team Stats

Offense
  • Goals: 3.03
  • Shots: 31.39
  • PP/PK Percentage: 20.39
Defense
  • Goals: 2.87
  • Shots: 32.5
  • PP/PK Percentage: 22.54

Why Bet on Edmonton?

The Oilers are trying to catch Vegas for the Pacific Division title but didn’t help themselves on Monday with a 3-2 overtime home loss to the Knights. Shea Theodore scored 2:13 into overtime; Theodore picked the top corner off a feed from Jonathan Marchessault, who scored the tying goal with eight minutes left in the third period. Vegas finished with a 48-24 advantage in shots on goal.

“We are just playing a real disconnected game,” Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. “We are just not playing very well as a group right now. I thought we had addressed some things, but our execution is so poor in a lot of different situations.”

Alex Chiasson and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had the goals for the Oilers. Chiasson opened the scoring nine minutes into the first period. He finished the game with a plus-1 rating, two penalty minutes and one shot on goal in 11:26 of ice time. The 29-year-old has three points in his last two games and is up to 11 goals and 24 points in 64 games this season. The Oilers regained the lead seven minutes into the third when Kailer Yamamoto battled hard to send the puck in front, allowing Nugent-Hopkins to score his 22nd.

Mikko Koskinen allowed three goals on 48 shots in a tough-luck loss. For the second straight game, Koskinen made 45 saves, but he wasn’t able to steal a win like he did Saturday against the Blue Jackets. The 31-year-old slipped to 18-13-3 with a 2.75 GAA and a .917 save percentage in 38 appearances.

Superstar Connor McDavid missed the game due to illness and is day-to-day. McDavid has 33 goals and 96 points in 63 games this season. It was the seventh game he’s missed this season, with the Oilers going 3-2-2 in them. In addition to McDavid, the Oilers were without Joakim Nygard (hand) and Mike Green (knee).

Team Stats

Offense
  • Goals: 3.19
  • Shots: 29.46
  • PP/PK Percentage: 29.5
Defense
  • Goals: 3.04
  • Shots: 32.07
  • PP/PK Percentage: 15.5

Jets vs Oilers Game Trends

  • Under is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings in Edmonton.
  • Jets are 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.
  • Favorite is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.

Jets vs Oilers Expert Prediction

Oilers 5, Jets 3