The Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks face off tonight at the Rexall Place in Edmonton. These teams were polar opposites last year with the Sharks finishing atop the Western Conference and the Oilers finishing last in the West and the league. This year the Oil got off to a solid start winning their first two games, but have since returned to their losing ways with a (2-3-0) record through 5 games this season. The Sharks on the other hand started the season in Sweden, splitting games with the Blue Jackets. The Sharks are beginning to turn their season around having defeated the Avs on the road on Thursday and they’ll look to extend their winning streak in Edmonton.
The Oilers are no doubt a better team than last year and should continue to improve throughout the season with the help of young guns Hall, Eberle and Paajarvi, but the Oilers are still a basement team in my books. Their young players will first need to learn how to lose in the NHL before they can win. You can expect the Oilers to be contenders a few years down the road similar to how the Penguins (Crosby, Malkin, Fleury) and Blackhawks (Toews, Kane) needed a few years at the bottom of the standings before eventually winning the Stanley Cup.
The Sharks are still an elite regular season team in this league. I placed a bet earlier this year on the Sharks to win the division at +110 odds at Bookmaker.com and I consider this wager a solid investment because the Sharks will no doubt top their division come April. The Sharks got off to a relatively slow start compared to their standards, but they have played extremely well of late and I expect them to continue this trend heading into Edmonton. The powerplay has been clicking lately with Pavelski scoring 2 PPG’s on Thursday night with two helpers from Heatley. It’s important that Heatley begins to produce even strength as well for the Sharks playing on the third line with Logan Couture and Ryane Clowe. This new strategy of splitting up the big guns should pay dividends for the Sharks throughout the season because their scoring threats will be spread throughout the lineup making them more difficult to defend.
San Jose Sharks -135 (Sportsbook.com)
Edmonton Oilers +130 (Bookmaker.com)
The Sharks are slight favourites in this game, but the betting odds are quite different among our recommended online sportsbooks. The odds you see above are the most favourable NHL betting odds for each team.
My Pick: San Jose Sharks -135
The San Jose Sharks are a much better all around team than the Oilers and should be able to take advantage of the inexperienced young guns this early in the season. Look for the Sharks to outshoot the Oilers by 10 or more and really push Khabibulin to the limits. The only way I see the Sharks losing this game is if Khabibulin comes out with his A-game (very possible), but more often than not the talent of the Sharks should be able to overcome the Oilers who will once again be a bottom feeder in the NHL this season.
Written by: Niko de Jonge
Tagged with: edmonton oilers • San Jose Sharks