The St. Louis Blues will be trying to prove a point to their former coach when they face the Edmonton Oilers, who have struggled on the road even when superstar center Connor McDavid is healthy.
The Blues are the slim -120 betting favorite with the Oilers coming back at -105 with a 5.5-goal total for Wednesday night’s matchup at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The tight moneyline is a commentary on both teams’ travails this season, as the Blues, now under the command of interim coach Craig Berube, are 2-6 in their last eight games. In the longer run, St. Louis is 11-7 in its last 18 home games as a favorite of -115 to -135 on the moneyline. The Oilers, with Ken Hitchcock, who coached St. Louis from 2011 to 2017, are 1-7 in their last eight road games.
McDavid, who missed Edmonton’s most recent game due to flu-like symptoms, is expected to play. The Blues’ best defenseman, Alex Pietrangelo (hand), is on injured reserve.
The Oilers are 13-12-2 on the season, including a 6-8-1 away mark, thanks in large part to McDavid, who is sixth in NHL scoring with 35 points despite being part of the league’s 27th-ranked offense. The change in focus under Hitchcock could help the Oilers improve their trend of being 5-8 in their last 13 road games against Central Division teams.
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Backing Edmonton does mean hoping their two major liabilities, lack of scoring depth beyond McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and a 26th-ranked penalty kill (75.6 per cent) can be overcome on a given night.
In goal, Edmonton is expected to start Cam Talbot, who has a 5-9-1 record, 3.29 goals-against average and .889 save percentage. Mikko Koskinen has been the more reliable goalie in Edmonton.
The Blues are 9-13-3 this season, including just 6-7-1 at the Enterprise Center, and the coaching change has yet to inspire results as they are just 2-4 with Berube behind the bench. If there are any positive signs with the Blues, right wing Vladimir Tarasenko is on a three-game goal streak and his move to a line centered by Tyler Bozak could make for a more balanced attack to go with the forward trios led by Ryan O’Reilly and Brayden Schenn.
St. Louis’ overall struggles have more to do with their 5-on-5 play, as they are 10th on both the power play (23.8 per cent, with Edmonton 14th at 21.2) and penalty kill (81.7 per cent).
Jake Allen, who is 7-7-3 with a 3.24 goals-against average and .896 save percentage, has had the bulk of the work in goal for the Blues.
The total has gone UNDER in seven of the Oilers’ last 10 games, according to the OddsShark NHL Database. The total has gone UNDER in seven of the Blues’ last 10 games. The total has gone UNDER in 13 of the Blues’ last 20 home games against Pacific Division teams.
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