Oilers Have Home-Ice Advantage
The Edmonton Oilers kick off their playoff bid against the Los Angeles Kings at Rogers Place on Monday night. The NHL betting market is cornered in Edmonton’s camp conspicuously, as the hosts face a team that they’ve owned down the stretch. But the Oilers can’t take anything for granted, not even the NHL odds, because the Kings do have a punter’s shot to deliver the upset in this best-of-seven series.
The pressure and weight of expectation rest exclusively on the Oilers. Arguably, in the series as a whole. They are the team that everyone expects to open with a win in Game 1. They’re also the team that should ultimately advance into the second round. But can the Oilers deliver on these expectations? Or will it be deja vu all over again.
Here we look solely at Game 1, focusing on the current betting online market as we preview this matchup and deliver our NHL prediction.
Let’s check the odds to win the Stanley Cup, stats, injury reports, and Stanley Cup odds for Kings vs Oilers.
Kings Playing With House Money
Low expectations precede the Los Angeles Kings into this year’s Stanley Cup hunt, as evinced by the overarching NHL odds. The Kings are also priced as the +200 longshots to win the first-round series over the Edmonton Oilers.
Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick are veterans of the game. They’re no spring chickens, but their experience in the playoffs is invaluable as they lead a relatively young team into the postseason.
The Kings will be without Drew Doughty, who is out for the foreseeable after undergoing wrist surgery. Doughty’s absence does leave a void on the defense, but Sean Durzi has stepped up in his place.
If there’s one area the Kings have an advantage, it is goaltending. They have the defense and the backline to thwart the Oilers’ high-powered offense. That was evinced in the last three games that were decided by merely a goal.
Oilers Have Flattered To Deceive
The Edmonton Oilers have some of the league’s most enviable talent contained within. Connor McDavid is one of the best players in the NHL today who consistently finishes at the top of the league. This year, he finished with a league-leading 123 points after scoring 44 goals and 79 assists.
His teammate, Leon Draisaitl, wasn’t too far behind in the standings, finishing in fourth place with 110 points after putting up 55 goals and 55 assists. He too is a consistent top performer.
And yet, despite this star power, the Oilers have one playoff victory in the last four years. To put a finer point on it, that’s one game won during the McDavid/Draisaitl era! Beggar’s belief, that.
It’s often said in hockey that the playoffs are a whole new season. That hasn’t worked to Edmonton’s advantage so far.
A case in point is last season when the Oilers were brusquely swept aside by the upstart Winnipeg Jets. McDavid and Draisaitl were rendered a moot point and the Oilers, as a whole, were left reeling, wondering how it all went so wrong so fast.
Going into the 2022 playoffs, the Oilers must not only overcome the Los Angeles Kings, but they must also overcome themselves and their past disappointments.
We have another #StanleyCup Playoffs matchup confirmed! ✅
Who ya got — the @EdmontonOilers or @LAKings?
NHL X @dunkindonuts pic.twitter.com/CdebNDrclR
— NHL (@NHL) April 27, 2022
Kings vs Oilers Head-to-Head
The Los Angeles Kings trail the Edmonton Oilers 3-6-1 in their last 10 meetings. The Oilers, by contrast, skated to a 7-3-0 record in those same contests. The total has gone 4-3-3.
The Oilers took the final meeting 3-2 on the road on April 7, 2022. In so doing, the Oilers improved to a 3-1 record against the Kings in 2022. It marked their third straight win over the Kings and second straight game decided by a goal. The Kings went 1-2-1 in this series.
The first two meetings featured lopsided scores: the Kings beat the Oilers 5-1 at Rogers Place on December 5, 2021, while the Oilers beat the Kings 5-2 at the Crypto.com Arena on February 5, 2022.
Kings vs Oilers Game Information
- Game: Kings (44-27-11) vs Oilers (49-27-6)
- Location: Rogers Place
- Day/Time: Monday, May 3, 2022 10 p.m. ET
- Kings vs Oilers Live Stream: NHL TV
Take a Look at These Other 2 NHL Picks
Kings vs Oilers Betting Lines
Kings vs Oilers Prediction
BetUS sportsbook opened the Oilers as the -190 favorites to win Game 1 of this Western Conference series while the total is projected to 6, with the OVER juiced up to -125 and the UNDER tipped at +105..
The Kings, in the meanwhile, are tipped as the tasty +165 underdogs to do the unthinkable and take the 1-0 lead on Monday night.
The overarching outlook for this series is in keeping with the betting outlook for this series opener. The Oilers are priced as the -240 favorites to win the series while the Kings are priced at +200.
The market outlook in of itself is no indication of how this series will unfold. Favorites have fallen flat and underdog teams have gone on deep runs before, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the same happened here. Although it would be immensely disappointing for the Oilers after being upset by the Jets in 2021.
On paper, the Oilers are the team to beat. They have incredible firepower and speed, and when they’re hot, they can beat anyone. There’s just one teeny, weeny problem with betting on the Oilers. That is, they’ve flattered to deceive before. Can they be trusted to exorcise the demons of the past?
The Kings face an uphill battle. Beating the Oilers at Rogers Place is no mean feat. But if their defense can shut down McDavid and Draisait and Quick dials back the clock, one has to like their chances of pulling off the upset here.
As such, betting the Kings at +165 is a tempting bet for NHL picks. For those that are on the fence, hedging bets with a play on the Kings puckline might be the better option. Kings at +1½ -140 to extend the trend of close games between this pair.
