Arizona Coyotes vs Edmonton Oilers NHL Picks, Odds, Predictions 10/21/2021

The Edmonton Oilers and the Arizona Coyotes meet in NHL action from the Gila River Arena on Thursday night.

The Edmonton Oilers come into this game looking to build on their 6-5 win in a thriller against the Anaheim Ducks last time out. Anaheim opened the scoring just over five minutes into the game before Zack Kassian tied things at one just under four minutes later. Connor McDavid made it 2-1 Edmonton with just over five minutes to go in the opening frame, but Anaheim would find the tying goal just :15 after. Leon Draisaitl gave Edmonton the lead back just before the end of the 1^st, but it wouldn’t hold for long as Anaheim scored two goals in a span of 1:13 just before the midway point of the second period to surge ahead 4-3. Anaheim’s lead would hold into the 3^rd where Kassian scored his 2^nd of the game to tie things up at four. Evan Bouchard gave Edmonton a 5-4 edge just past the halfway point of the 3^rd and Draisaitl would ice the win for Edmonton with an empty-netter with just over a minute to play. Anaheim would make things interesting with a goal with :19 to go, but in the end it wasn’t enough as Edmonton held on for the win. Mikko Koskinen got the win in relief of Mike Smith, who allowed four goals on 15 shots before being pulled for Koskinen who made 20 of 21 stops.

The Arizona Coyotes will be out to rebound from a 7-4 barnburner of their own, but still taking the loss to the St. Louis Blues last time out. Clayton Keller opened the scoring for the Coyotes just 5:26 into the game, but St. Louis would tie things up at one just 1:40 later. The tie would hold going into the second where Lawson Crouse restored Arizona’s lead just under four minutes into the second, but that was short-lived as the Blues potted five goals in a span of 5:07 to go up 6-2 by the end of the second period. Christian Fischer and Travis Boyd would make things interesting with goals 2:58 apart to make it a 6-4 game but St. Louis would add a 7^th goal to slam the door shut on any comeback attempt from the Coyotes. Carter Hutton took the loss after allowing 6 goals on 21 shots faced in the losing effort.

Edmonton is 5-1 in their last 6 games following a win and 7-2 in their last 9 road games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall. Arizona is 5-15 in their last 20 games overall and 0-4 in their last 4 home games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games following a loss by 3 or more goals.

I get the case that can be made for a home dog on most nights, but the Edmonton Oilers continue to be the worst team in hockey right now and the fact of the matter is that’s not going to change against Edmonton and Connor McDavid. The Oilers are just the far better team here and while you can hunt for upsets early in the season, this isn’t one of those spots. Give me Edmonton -1.5 here.