October 26, 2011

Hockey Pick: Washington Capitals @ Edmonton Oilers 10/27/11

On Thursday night, a pair of teams that think they are going to be contenders on the Stanley Cup odds square off in the Great White North, where the Edmonton Oilers will host the Washington Capitals in NHL betting action

Is there a team out there that is going to stop the Caps this year? They have been all over the place on both sides of the ice, now that they have the goaltender that they truly trust, they have a great opportunity to finally break the seal on the team’s first Stanley Cup. As always, the Oilers are going to have to watch out for Alexander Ovechkin, who actually has only scored three goals and has four assists in seven games. That might seem like quite a bit for a normal play, but remember that Ovie has the ability to score 150 points with the right teammates around him in a season. Nicklas Backstrom already has eight assists on the season, and Jason Chimera is leading the team with four goals. Washington has already lit the lamp 30 times on the campaign, an impressive feat for a team that has played 10 games, let alone the seven that the Caps have embarked upon. And, the scariest part about this team at this point is that Tommy Vokoun probably hasn’t shown his best stuff yet in net. The former Florida Panther is 6-0-0 with a shutout and a 1.80 GAA to his mark this year, and we know that he could have the Vezina Trophy in sight this year.

If the Oilers are going to become the first team to take two points away from the Caps this year, they are going to need all of their young guns to step up. Whereas Washington has built its team through big name stars, Edmonton has had to really build through the NHL Draft in recent years, and it has also made some trades that have helped out the team in the long run. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is already looking to be the top rookie this season in the entire league, as he has five goals and three helpers. Jordan Eberle was last year’s top rookie on this team, and he already has seven points as well. The real reason why the Oilers are in second place in the Northwest Division this year though, is because they haven’t been a total train wreck in net. Last year, they threatened to allow 300 goals on the season, something that no team should ever do. This year, Nikolai Khabibulin and Devan Dubnyk are off to great starts, as the two have only combined to allow 12 goals in seven games.

Washington Capitals @ Edmonton Oilers Pick: The NHL odds on the Capitals are starting to get a tad ridiculous, and we can’t say that they have really caught up with the Oilers yet. That being said, the numbers are surely going to be right to back Edmonton in this one, and we plan on taking advantage of a nice spot here at Rexall Place.

NHL Pick: Edmonton Oilers

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Andrew Ryan

Andrew Ryan has been in the sportswriting biz since the late-90s, and he has worked side by side with some of the best and brightest in sports gambling. Always searching for the best trends in sports, Andrew uses his brilliant math mind to his advantage to beat the books.