Free Picks: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Edmonton Oilers

These two teams met earlier in the week, with Toronto taking a victory away from the Oilers. Riding a 4-game win streak, the Oilers will look to do everything in their power to snap the Maple Leafs’ winning ways. As for Edmonton, they have fallen in two consecutive games and are attempting to claw back into the win column.

As the Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers are on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of streaks, I believe that the Oilers’ 2-game losing skid will end when they take on the Maple Leafs.

I (sometimes) like to be bold on BetPicks and I believe we see a breakout game from Edmonton.

All good things must come to an end and Toronto’s 4-game streak will be snapped. Why do I think this? Well, looking back to Thursday night, there were two reasons the Oilers failed to eke out a win: penalties and weak goals.

Untimely penalties allowed the Maple Leafs to light up the board. On top of that, Edmonton netminder Mikko Koskinen allowed two goals that he would like to have back that drastically changed the game in favor of the Maple Leafs.

Those three mistakes were the difference-maker in their last meeting. I know, the Oilers managed to score two of their goals from the Power Play, so I expect Saturday’s game to be more disciplined.

From there, it should be a battle of attrition between the two teams’ respective stars.

Despite being in the lower half of the North Standings, there are a number of key statistics that has me believing the Oilers can turn these L’s into W’s.

For one, McDavid and Draisaitl continue to roll. These two stars have the ability to take over a game and I think they can do it Saturday.

The Oilers allow 3.67 goals against per game. If they tighten up their defense, the Oilers will see victories more often than not. It’s hard to win hockey games when you’re scoring a goal less per game than allowing on average.

If Edmonton tightens up and allows one less goal per game, they drop from 5th worst in the NHL to around 20th. That’s a drastic change.

I think Edmonton’s value makes them a solid choice for one of the best NHL bets. Despite being on the losing side of recent games, the Oilers can only go up.

With players like McDavid and Draisaitl, those two alone can easily change the outcome of a game. It may be one of my boldest picks and prediction, but expect the Oilers to snap their modest skid Saturday night.

• Edmonton are 1-4 SU in last 5 games.
• The Oilers are 0-5 SU against Toronto at home in last 5.
• Toronto are 6-1 SU in last 7 games.
• Marner, Matthews and Tavares have combined for 30 points this season.