No one else can beat the Oilers? Release the Kraken! As Seattle looks to down the historic 11 game winning streak by Edmonton
Don’t get it twisted. The Kraken may have lost their last two games, but that was after a nine-game winning streak, in which they beat the defending Stanley Cup Champion Golden Knights and the surging Flyers team. The Kraken are also 10-8-6 on the road this season, which is nearly identical to the Oilers’ home record of 12-6-1. Despite recently losing to the Rangers and being shutout by the Penguins, they have a shot at not repeating an ugly losing streak like the one earlier in the season.
Along with their 11 game winning streak, the Oilers have won four straight over the Kraken and will look to extend both tonight at home. It should be close game and if you want to get in on the action, here is our best bets for tonight's matchup.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Please gamble responsibly.
Pick: Kraken +1.5 (-135)
It’s no surprise the Oilers are the favourite, being 19-3-0 and the best team in the league since late-November. Not long before, they were at 2-9-1 in their prior 12 games. They crawled themselves out of that hole and have been on fire lately, crowned by the aggressive offense of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman. The Kraken aren't only the underdogs because of the team they’re facing, but also cause of their rough start to the season too with a four-game losing streak, averaging 8-10-6 through October and November, and suffering an eight-game losing streak between last week of November and second week of December. But they too have crawled up, now competing with the rest of the Pacific Division.
But here’s why you should have faith in the Kraken. Even if star, versatile defenseman Vince Dunn does not return, the Kraken’s defense have been hot with Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak having a combined 189 blocked shots and allowing only 2.86 goals per game. Despite how many shots attempts and goals McDavid, Draisaitl, and Hyman have been making, get past the Kraken's defense may be a tall order and that's not even mentioning red hot goalie Joey Daccord, who has a 2.28 goals against average on the season and an 8-1-0 record in his last nine starts between the pipes.
Pick: Under 6.5 goals (-115)
Despite the Kraken’s strong defense, their offense is slightly weaker, at only 2.80 goals scored per game on average. Even with Edmonton’s fifth-best offense in the league with a 3.50 goals per game average, hitting this over seems unlikely, especially considering the strong defense of the Kraken and the star goalie in their own net Stuart Skinner. The hometown hero from Edmonton has a 2.61 goals against average on the season and has kept teams to two or fewer goals in six straight starts.
The Kraken will be missing versatile, goal-scoring defenseman Vince Dunn and if the Oilers can take advantage of his absence to gain more possession near the Kraken’s net, the pressure is on for Larsson, Oleksiak, and Daccord to keep them out.