NHL Hockey Best Bets for December 14, 2015
Five games on the NHL board for Monday. Here are our best bets:
EDMONTON OILERS AT BOSTON BRUINS:
You can do a lot in sports betting by playing against ‘public perception’ and we’ve got a great opportunity to do that here. The ‘recreational bettor’ last paid attention to the Edmonton Oilers when they lost rookie phenom Connor McDavid to a brutal shoulder injury back on November 4. They may have still been paying attention when the Oilers bumbled through November losing 9 of their next 11 games. They probably didn’t notice that 7 of those nine losses were by one goal.
The Oilers were obviously dispirited and disorganized after the McDavid injury but something funny has happened since the first of December–they’ve started to realize that even without their player of the future they’re still a very potent offensive team. Leon Draisitl was called up essentially to replace McDavid immediately after his injury. At the time, the jury was out about whether or not he’d stick with the big club–let alone come anywhere close to replacing McDavid’s productivity. All he’s done since then: 20 games, 9 goals, 17 assists, 26 points and +12. He’s centering the Oilers’ #1 line with Teddy Purcell and Taylor Hall–that’s the same Taylor Hall that was on his way out of Edmonton last season. Hall’s season line: 14 goals, 20 assists, 34 points +15. Hall has lost the ‘deer caught in headlights’ look that he wore for the first two years of his career and has become the feisty power forward that the Oilers thought he could be. Hall is now 4th in the NHL in scoring behind some pretty good players named Patrick Kane, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.
Edmonton enters this game having won five straight and six of their last seven. Five of the six games were at home but they earned wins against the NY Rangers, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks. The Draisitl/Hall/Purcell line has been borderline unstoppable and they’ve got a decent second line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Jujhar Khaira. And here’s where it gets scary–they’ve done all of this without Nail Yakupov (who was their early season goal scoring leader) and Benoit Poulliot. Both players are close to a return giving the Oilers even more offensive firepower. And some rookie named ‘Connor McDavid’ will join them early next year. He’s supposed to be pretty good or something. The returning players obviously need to get into ‘game shape’ and find some cohesion playing together but you don’t have to be Scotty Bowman to realize that they’ll have three *very* nasty lines. Assuming McDavid returns to form and the Draisitl line maintains their form it’s not a stretch to say that the Oilers could have the most potent offense in hockey by the end of the season.
Sure, their defense is marginal and their goaltending sucks. That’s why they will likely miss the playoffs this year (though in a wide open Pacific Division they could sneak in). But since the first of December they’ve averaged four goals per game and that’s without their best player and playmaker. Boston has been a nice surprise this year but in no way, shape or form should they be a -200 favorite against this exciting young Edmonton team.
BET EDMONTON OILERS +170 OVER BOSTON BRUINS
BET EDMONTON/BOSTON OVER 5.5