The Edmonton Oilers are in the middle of a brutal portion of their schedule and will visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night to play their fifth straight road game in a seven-day span. The team is finishing out an eight road game stretch that will be interrupted by one home game next Thursday. Edmonton only has one win on the season and is probably building an insurmountable hole two weeks into the year. The team still has nearly 70 games left to turn things around, and writing them off this early is foolish, but starting with one win and only three points over the first seven games is not a great way to open up the season.

The Senators have not played great through seven games, either, but Ottawa’s problems seem like strengths in comparison to the troubles that the Oilers are facing. The Senators will play three home games during their next four matchups and will be looking to correct a few mistakes and grab as many wins as possible in order to gain some ground on a tough Atlantic Division. Let’s take an in-depth look at Saturday’s Oilers versus Senators matchup and figure out which side of the bet has the best value to wager on.
 
Oilers at Senators Betting Story Lines

The Oilers are on a five-game losing streak and have not won a game in regulation all season. The team needed a shootout to get its sole victory this season over the New Jersey Devils and lost its last two games against the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins by a 3-2 margin in both matchups. Edmonton has alternated between goaltenders Jason LaBarbera and Devan Dubnyk, who have not been particularly effective, and both have save percentages of less than .880. The Oilers currently rank 14th in goals per game at 2.8, 30th in goals allowed at 4.4, and 19th in power play percentage.

The Senators are coming into Saturday’s matchup with a two-game win streak and have relied on the excellent goaltending Criag Anderson has provided them. Anderson stopped 40 shot attempts during the team’s last game and has 182 stops on the season with a .924 save percentage. Ottawa’s center Jason Spezza has led the team on offense during the early part of the year and already has eight points on five goals and three assists through seven games this year. The Senators currently rank 12th in goals scored with 2.9 per game, 22nd in goals allowed with 2.9 and 22nd in power play percentage.

The Oilers have averaged only 28.5 shots per game and have allowed their opponents to shoot 29.8 attempts per game. However, not everything has been bad news in Edmonton, and the team has been receiving solid production from Taylor Hall. Edmonton’s center has eight points on the season with three goals and five assist. Hall managed to score two goals in eight seconds during Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders and broke Wayne Gretzky’s 33-year-old record of two goals in nine seconds.

Oilers at Senators NHL Betting Odds and Key Trends

The Senators opened up as a -180 moneyline favorite against the underdog Oilers, according to BookMaker. Edmonton opened as a +155 moneyline underdog for Saturday’s game. The total was set at 5.5 goals, with the “over” being favorite with a -120 vig. The Senators are 6-1 when playing on one day’s rest, and are 4-1 in their last five home games. The Oilers have gone over four times during their last five games played on one day’s worth of rest. The road team is 5-0 during the last five meetings between the two teams, and Edmonton is only 2-8 over the last 10 games in the series.

Free NHL Picks: Oilers at Senators Betting Predictions

The Oilers are receiving solid odds at +155 as a road underdog against an average Senators team that has struggled to score goals early in the season. Edmonton is in desperate need of a win and will be looking to turn their season around as quickly as possible. Saturday’s matchup feels like a trap situation for a Senators team that will be entering its second straight home. They have not gone on the road since the Oct. 15. Edmonton will enter this game motivated and hoping to end their road trip with a couple of wins. Take the Oilers and the positive payout—there is too much value on the team pulling off an upset.

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Read more articles by George Monroy