Rivalry Renewed: Vegas Golden Knights vs. Edmonton Oilers Preview

The Vegas Golden Knights have a quick turnaround against the Edmonton Oilers tonight in a rematch of last year’s second round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Betting line: The Golden Knights are a +125 underdog, to a 7-12-1 team, with an over/under of 6.5. The public is evenly split on covers.com. The betting line and over/under is hard to understand. The Oilers are not playing great hockey and find themselves favored. The Golden Knights are not scoring and not giving up goals, yet the over/under is 6.5. Proceed with caution if you are backing an opinion with cash at your local sportsbook.

Key storylines: Keegan Kolesar, Evander Kane, Alex Pietrangelo, and Leon Draisaitl all have tonight’s game circled on the calendar. At some point, a hockey game may break out, but there will be plenty of opportunities for old foes to reacclimate themselves with one another.

About the Golden Knights (14-5-3, 31 points): The Golden Knights have failed to score a five-on-five goal in the last four games. Special teams and stellar goaltending have carried the Golden Knights during their 3-5-2 stretch. The Golden Knights are in a scoring drought, not a slump.

The expected lines are simply a guess for tonight’s game. Coach Bruce Cassidy put the lines in a blender and it led to just one goal scored on Dan Vladar, whose goals-against average dropped to 3.20, and save percentage rose to .883 after Monday’s victory. Will coach Cassidy stick with last night’s blender, go back to the original forward lines, or come out with a new line blender?

Expected Lines

Stephenson-Eichel-Stone
Barbashev-Karlsson-Marchessault
Cotter-Roy-Amadio
Carrier-Howden-Kolesar

McNabb-Whitecloud
Hague-Pietrangelo
Hutton-Korczak

Thompson

About the Oilers (7-12-1, 15 points): The Oilers are on their second coach this year and one of their NHL goalies was sent to the AHL. Things are not going according to plan for the “Stanley Cup or bust” Oilers. Connor McDavid has 25 points (7 goals) and Draisaitl has 28 points (9 goals). The net belongs to Stuart Skinner who is 6-7-1 with a 3.28 GA/G and .877 SV%. Vladar type numbers. Hopefully the Golden Knights can find a path to four or more goals.

Golden Knights to watch: The scoring drought is wearing on everyone, starting with the forwards. We will be watching the “$5 million forwards” today, those who are paid the most to score goals. Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, William Karlsson, and Ivan Barbashev. Big money brings big pressure. It is time for those paid the most to do the most.

Time: 6:00 p.m. PST.
TV: Vegas 34 (Scripps Sports)
Streaming: KnightTime+
Radio: FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340