Vegas Golden Knights vs. Edmonton Oilers Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/8/2022

Time: 9 p.m. ET

Venue: Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB

Where to watch: ESPN+

DraftKings: EVEN

BetMGM: EVEN

Caesars: EVEN

Golden Knights: 27-16-3

Oilers: 23-16-3

I’m leaning toward the Vegas Golden Knights finally getting a win against the Edmonton Oilers this season with both teams coming out of the All-Star break.

The Golden Knights, injuries and all, are coming out of the break in first place of the Pacific Division and are in good shape heading into what will be a weird February across the league. Vegas starts with a back-to-back road trip at Edmonton and Calgary before getting a week off.

But Vegas dropped its first two games of the season at home to the Oilers and now go to Canada in what now looks like a winnable game as compared to before.

But it only seems apropos that we’re talking a game of Connor McDavid when Jack Eichel is in the same breath. Eichel took part in practice as a full-contact participant Monday and it signals that he’s on the horizon sooner than later.

We won’t see the top two picks of the 2015 NHL Draft playing against each other in this one, but we’ll get to see a near-healthy Vegas team against McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty will have Chandler Stephenson back after missing the final games before the break due to COVID protocol.

I say near healthy but Zach Whitecloud has a broken foot and will be out for the foreseeable future. The Golden Knights recalled Daniil Miromanov from the AHL and Alec Martinez is likely to travel with his return also imminent. How the Golden Knights plan to figure that into salary cap situations is still a mind-boggling scenario to me, but this is why I don’t make the big bucks.

Hopefully for the Golden Knights, they have found a way to stay consistent after a great defensive performance. Vegas is 1-4 in its last five after giving up just two goals or fewer the previous game, especially when Edmonton is 10-2 in the last 12 against the Pacific Division. Even though it may not look promising for the Oilers to make the playoffs at this rate, handling business against the division is actually a good sign to some extent.

The road team has won four of the last five meetings, and I prefer Robin Lehner to go on the road and play well in a divisional game. Vegas needs a strong effort before going to Laurent Brossoit on Wednesday in Calgary. I think Lehner can get that done on the road. Golden Knights win 4-2

The Golden Knights are 14-5 when playing less than three games in 10 days.

The Oilers are 92-110 off a road win by two goals or more.

Golden Knights:

Max Pacioretty -- Chandler Stephenson -- Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith

Mattias Janmark -- Nicolas Roy -- Evgenii Dadonov

William Carrier -- Brett Howden -- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague -- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Ben Hutton -- Daniil Miromanov

Robin Lehner

Oilers:

Evander Kane -- Connor McDavid -- Kailer Yamamoto

Warren Foegele -- Leon Draisaitl -- Jesse Puljujarvi

Zach Hyman -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Zack Kassian

Devin Shore -- Ryan McLeod -- Derek Ryan

Darnell Nurse -- Evan Bouchard

Duncan Keith -- Cody Ceci

Kris Russell -- William Lagesson

Mikko Koskinen