Back

sports

McDavid and Oilers Poised to Make A Deep Playoff Run

April 14, 2024

It’ll be a familiar matchup for the Oilers as they face the Kings for the third straight postseason,

Edmonton has eliminated Los Angeles the past two years. While the Canucks face the red-hot

Predators, the second time these teams have met the playoffs, the other time coming during

Vancouver’s Cup run in 2011.

Canucks vs Predators

Vancouver Canucks

Strength

Vancouver took home the season series with a 3-0 sweep of the Preds and outscored them

13-6 in the process. While he may not win the Vezina due to time missed with an injury,

goaltender Thatcher Demko should be a nominee. He posted career highs in wins(35), goals

against average(2.44) and save percentage(.918%). Oh and captain Quinn Hughes has been a

beast on the back-end. Hughes led all defensemen in scoring with 92 points on the year.

Weakness

Life without Demko proved to be rough and it exposed a lot of the Canucks’ holes, be it in net or

in front of the crease. They struggled to produce shots and ended the season with an average

of 28.4 shots on net per game.

Nashville Predators

Strength

Not seeing U2 at The Sphere in Vegas in February paid off big time. Somehow, the Predators

snuck into the postseason thanks to an incredible 16-0-2 run that started when the decision was

made to not let the players see U2. The squad is led by Filip Forsberg who set career-highs in

both goals(48) and assists(46) this season).

Weakness

There isn’t a lot to get excited about beyond Forsberg. Ryan O’Reilly is second in goals on the

squad with 26, a 22 goal differential between first and second on the club.

Current Series Odds

Preds +137

Canucks -157

Season Series

October 24: Vancouver 3 @ Nashville 2

October 31: Nashville 2 @ Vancouver 5

December 19: Vancouver 5 @ Nashville 2

Oilers vs Kings

Edmonton Oilers

Strength

The Oilers won the season series 3-1 but it was closer than expected as they only outscored the

Kings 11-9.Simply put, they have superstar scoring. They have Connor McDavid who finished

third in league scoring with 132 points on the year and Leon Draisaitl who ended the year with

106 points, good enough for seventh in the league. Surprisingly it wasn’t either of these two who

led the team in goals. Zach Hyman finished the year with 54 tucks on the year which slots him in

at third-highest in the NHL.

Weakness

Edmonton sort of sputtered near the end of the regular season with a 1-3-1 record over their last

five games. While the playoffs are a different beast and a whole new season, could fatigue be

an issue for the Oilers?

Los Angeles Kings

Strength

Los Angeles plays an excellent shut-down game, something they’ll need to employ against a

squad like the Oilers. They have the second-best penalty kill percentage at 84.6% and allow an

average of just 28.0 shots per game, fourth-best in the NHL.

Weakness

Their goaltending isn’t the threat it was a decade ago when they ran the table. Jonathan Quick

is backing up for the Rangers so the Kings have had to rely on Cam Talbot and David Rittich.

While they’re serviceable, they’re not exactly going to steal you games.

Current Series Odds

Kings +170

Oilers -195

Season Series

December 30: Edmonton 3 @ Los Angeles 2

February 10: Edmonton 0 @ Los Angeles 4

February 26: Los Angeles 2 @ Edmonton 4

March 28: Los Angeles 1 @ Edmonton 4

For the latest NHL odds visit BetOnline.

Recent Articles

Next

Warriors, Kings Battle in 9-10 Play-In Game With Loser’s Season Over

Previous

Can the Cardinals go from worst to first for the NL Central title?