Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks - 12/23/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Edmonton Oilers vs Vancouver Canucks

Date: Monday, December 23, 2019

Location: Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC

TV: RSNW/RSNP

Odds/Point Spread: Oilers (+122) Canucks (-135)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Jacob Markstrom and the Vancouver Canucks (18-15-4, 5th in the Pacific Division) play the Edmonton Oilers (20-15-4, 2nd in the Pacific Division) at Rogers Arena on Monday, December 23, 2019. The line on this matchup has the Oilers coming in at +122 and the Canucks are at -135. The over/under opens at 6. The Oilers are covering 48.7% of the time, having gone 18-19 SU. Vancouver is covering 44.1% of the time, going 15-19 straight up.

The Edmonton Oilers head into this game with a record of 20 victories and 15 defeats, which puts them at 2nd in the Pacific Division. During the season thus far, they have scored a total of 113 goals which ranks 7th in the conference and 16th in the league. Their goal differential is -6, which puts them at 21st in the league. The Oilers currently have a total of 44 points, which ranks 12th in the league and 6th in the West. Regarding shots at the opposing goalie, they currently have a total of 1,136 which ranks 10th in the conference and 19th in the league. As a team, Edmonton has compiled a total of 802 hits which means they are averaging 20.6 per game. They currently have a total of 497 blocks for the season. The man between the pipes for Edmonton is Mike Smith from Kingston, Ontario. He is 37 years old and has totaled 1,033 minutes defending the net this season. Smith is giving up 3.14 goals per game which has him ranked 27th in the West and 51st in the NHL. So far this year, he's surrendered 54 goals. His save percentage is .893 which has him ranked 28th in the West.

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The Edmonton Oilers had a good night with a 4 - 3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens the last time they stepped on the ice. The Oilers had a solid offensive output in this victory. In this outing, they converted 4 out of the 26 shots they attempted. They also had 5 power play attempts and were able to notch 1 goal out of those tries. Edmonton earned 7 penalty mins for this outing. The Corsi for the Oilers was 34 and the Corsi against was 55 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 38.2%. Their Fenwick was 23 while the Fenwick against sat at 35, which means they had a Fenwick percentage of 39.7%. They won 23 face-off wins and were beaten on 21 of the face-offs. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 53.3% and they had a PDO of 113.1 for this matchup. Regarding their opponent, the Montreal Canadiens tallied 26 shots. They ended the game with 15 penalty minutes and they tallied 1 power play opportunity.

The Canucks will be the team across the ice and for the season they have 18 victories and 15 losses. With regard to goal differential, they are ranked 7th in the West and 16th in the league with +5. They have earned a total of 117 goals for this year which is good for 3rd in the conference. Vancouver has a save % as a team of .906 which has them sitting 15th in the league, which means there should be some chances to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 9.9% which is good for 6th in the Western Conference. In goal for Vancouver is Jacob Markstrom who is having an ok season by giving up 2.68 goals against average and that places him 10th among Western Conference goaltenders and 22nd in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,498 minutes he has played this season, he's given up 67 goals. He has a save % of .916, which has him ranked 11th among Western Conference goaltenders and 20th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Vancouver Canucks faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a game where the Canucks ended up with the win by a final score of 4 - 1. In this outing, Vancouver earned a 30.3% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by earning a Corsi of 23 and the other team having a Corsi of 53. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 34.7% by earning a Fenwick of 17 and the Penguins earning a 32 Fenwick. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Vancouver had and we'd say they played well overall. They had a PDO at even strength of 120.0 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 22.7%. The Canucks scored 4 goals out of the 14 shots on goal they attempted. They had 5 power play chances in this outing and scored 2 out of those opportunities. Concerning the opposition, the Penguins had 5 power play opportunities and came through by scoring 1 goal. Vancouver conceded 29 shots on goal and the Penguins ended up with a total of 10 penalty mins.

Who will win tonight's NHL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Edmonton (+122)

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