Edmonton Oilers vs Vegas Golden Knights Prediction, Preview and Odds - 05/03/2023

Game Time: 9:30 pm ET, Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Venue:  T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Oilers -115, Golden Knights -105; Over/Under:  6.5 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Oilers -115, Golden Knights -105; Over/Under:  6.5 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Oilers -115, Golden Knights -105; Over/Under:  6.5 goals

Edmonton Oilers:  50-23-9 (2nd place, Pacific Division)

Vegas Golden Knights:  51-22-9 (1st place, Pacific Division)

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Edmonton Oilers:  8-0-2 last 10

Vegas Golden Knights:  7-1-2 last 10

The Oilers are entering this game finishing the regular season with 109 points, a 50-23-9 record overall, and they were 27-11-3 in their road games this regular season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game on a 3 game winning streak with all 3 wins coming against the LA Kings in their last 3 games, winning that last one on the road 5-4. Klim Kostin scored 2 goals while Connor McDavid, Kailer Yamamoto, and Leon Draisaitl each scored 1 goal in that game. Evan Bouchard, Vincent Desharnais, and Ryan McLeod each led the team in assists with 2 while Warren Foegele led the team in shots on net in that game with 4. Stuart Skinner was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 4 goals on 44 shots with 40 saves and a .909 save percentage. Their offense has scored 325 goals this season averaging 4 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 260 goals against them allowing 3.2 goals per game.

The Golden Knights are entering this game finishing the regular season with 111 points, a 51-22-9 record overall, and they were 25-15-1 in their home games this regular season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game on a 4 game winning streak with all 4 wins coming against the Winnipeg Jets in their last 4 games, winning that last one at home 4-1. Chandler Stephenson scored 2 goals while Mark Stone and William Karlsson each scored 1 goal in that game. Mark Stone led the team in assists with 2 while Ivan Barbashev led the team in shots on net in that game with 5. Laurent Brossoit was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 1 goal on 30 shots with 29 saves and a .967 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 272 goals this season averaging 3.3 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 229 goals against them allowing 2.8 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Oilers listed as a slight favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. This is game 1 of a 7-game series between the Oilers and the Golden Knights for the 2nd round of the NHL Western Conference playoffs. The Golden Knights are entering this series after winning their 1st round series against the Winnipeg Jets 4-1. The Oilers are entering this series after winning their 1st round series against the Los Angeles Kings 4-2. The Golden Knights finished the regular season as the number 1 seed in the West so they have the home advantage here but they did lose their 1st game of the series at home to the Jets in the 1st round before winning the next 4 games in a row. They didn't have the toughest challenge with the Jets as the Jets do have some great defensive play but they don't have much of an offense to help and it showed as they struggled to play from behind in the series. The Oilers are the complete opposite though as they don't have a great defense but they can definitely score goals and their offense will be coming at the Golden Knights all night in this game as they look to steal a road game right away in this series. The Oilers were also really hot coming into the playoffs as they had won 9 games in a row and they have still won 8 of their last 10 games now, those 2 losses coming in their last series. The Oilers are definitely good enough to steal game 1 on the road here and it will be their offense that shows up in a big way as they have been hot lately. The best way to place a bet here is on the Oilers to win this game and take a 1-0 series lead.

Oilers Golden Knights Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Wednesday, May 3, 2023 (9:30 pm ET start time) is Oilers 4 Golden Knights 3.

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Edmonton Oilers: 0-5 (-7.6 units) on the moneyline in the 1st game of a playoff series. 12-14 (-7.4 units) on the moneyline as a # 2 seed in the playoffs. 56-28 OVER in all games. 29-15 OVER in a road game where the total is 6 or more.

Vegas Golden Knights: 55-32 (+13.6 units) on the moneyline in all games. 24-11 (+13.4 units) on the moneyline revenging a loss versus opponent. 26-16 OVER revenging a loss vs opponent of 2 goals or more. 4-1 OVER as a # 1 seed in the playoffs. 

Edmonton Oilers:  M. Janmark (C) Out indefinitely - Lower Body. R. Murray (D) Early May - Back.

Vegas Golden Knights:  S. Theodore (D) day-to-day - Undisclosed. B. McNabb (D) day-to-day - Upper Body. L. Thompson (G) Early May - Lower Body. N. Patrick (C) out for season - Upper Body. R. Lehner (G) out for season - Hip.

“It’s good that we’ve been in that situation before where you feel like you’re doing a lot of good things and the game is tied. You didn’t really do anything wrong, but a couple tough breaks. Coming down the stretch Skinner gave us a chance to win and obviously, the little guy (Yamamoto) steps up over here.” - Connor McDavid after their win against the Kings in their game on Saturday ending the series 4-2, game 6 of that series.

“I think it was our best, or closest to complete, but like I said, we still have work to do and we know that. Nobody plays their best game in the first round. You keep building, and we’ll do the same.” - Bruce Cassidy after his team’s win against the Jets in their game on Thursday ending the series 4-1, game 5 of that series.

LW Draisaitl, Leon

C McDavid, Connor

RW Kane, Evander

LD Nurse, Darnell

RD Ceci, Cody

G Skinner, Stuart

LW Barbashev, Ivan

C Eichel, Jack

RW Marchessault, Jonathan

LD Martinez, Alec

RD Pietrangelo, Alex

G Brossoit, Laurent

Points: C. McDavid (153)

Goals: C. McDavid (64)

Assists: C. McDavid (89)

GAA: S. Skinner (2.75)

Points: J. Eichel (66)

Goals: J. Marchessault (28)

Assists: C. Stephenson (49)

GAA: L. Brossoit (2.17)

Coaches:

Edmonton Oilers: Jay Woodcroft (2nd season)

Vegas Golden Knights: Bruce Cassidy (1st season)