Winnipeg Jets vs. Edmonton Oilers NHL Picks, Odds, Predictions 5/21/2021

The Winnipeg Jets and the Edmonton Oilers meet in game two of their Stanley Cup First Round matchup in NHL action from Rogers Place on Friday night.

The Winnipeg Jets will look to take a 2-0 series lead after shocking the Oilers in game one with a 4-1 win over the Oilers in their last matchup.

The game was scoreless through the opening 20 minutes before Jesse Puljujarvi opened the scoring 8:24 into the second period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead but Tucker Poolman responded just 2:37 later to tie things up at one. The tie would hold into the second intermission and into the 3^rd period before Dominic Toninato gave Winnipeg the lead just over nine minutes into the 3^rd period. Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler would bury a pair of empty-net goals :32 apart to push Winnipeg’s lead to an insurmountable 4-1 cushion that they’d ride all the way to the final horn.

Connor Hellebuyck got the win in goal for Winnipeg after stopping 32 of 33 shots faced in the winning effort while Mike Smith ended up with the loss for the Oilers after giving up two goals on 20 shots faced in defeat.

Winnipeg is 4-9 in their last 13 games overall and 3-9 in their last 12 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 playoff games as an underdog. Edmonton is 6-2 in their last 8 games overall and 26-10 in their last 36 games as a favorite while the over is 7-2 in their last 9 playoff games as a favorite. The under is 5-1-1 in the last 7 meetings between these two teams and 3-0-1 in the last 4 meetings between these two teams in Edmonton.

I get why the under could be a tempting proposition at 5.5, but in reality do we really think that McDavid and Draisaitl are going to be held off of the scoresheet for a second straight game? I have always thought that Edmonton’s goaltending was suspect, and I think that Hellebuyck’s prone to giving up a couple of tallies as well so give me the over in this spot as I see a 4-3 game.