Sports Betting Overview

When the 2011-2012 NHL season started, the Anaheim Ducks and the Edmonton Oilers had high hopes. The Ducks were coming off an extremely successful season where the team made the playoffs and finished with 99 points in the standings. But with losses of key players and the mysterious decline of goaltender Jonas Hiller, the Ducks have plummeted to the bottom of the Pacific Division. The team fired its coach and brought in Bruce Boudreau and things improved for a couple of weeks. But when the honeymoon was over, the team sunk right back into the tank. Nothing seems to be going right in Anaheim, and there doesn’t appear to be any signs of it getting any better.

The Edmonton Oilers and its fans did not know what to expect this season. The pay per head sportsbook experts placed the Oilers at the bottom of the Western Conference in preseason polls. But the experts were shocked when the Oilers came flying out of the gate and started to rocket to the top of the Western Conference. After about a month, reality set in again and the Oilers started its climb back down the standings. Edmonton is that frustrating mixture of very young and veteran players that cannot seem to gel together. Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin started out with fantastic numbers, but then his performance fell off and the team followed him down the standings.

Anaheim Ducks

The price per head sports experts are wondering what has happened to Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller. In 35 games played this year, Hiller is 10-17-6. He is facing a lot of shots and that is causing his goals against average to balloon and his save percentage to drop. The Ducks need to put a defense around Hiller or else this season will be lost. There is only so much that Bruce Boudreau, or any coach, can do with a roster that is thin on defense. The Ducks are 4-5-1 in the last 10 games, but that does include a three-game winning streak. The team is hoping to extend that streak with this road game. The problem is that Anaheim is 3-10-5 on the road and not playing very good hockey away from home.

Edmonton Oilers

When the Edmonton Oilers crashed this season, it happened on the road. The Oilers are 6-16-1 away from home, which means that the World Juniors tournament that caused the Oilers to have to go on an extended road trip really hurt this young team. A sportsbook.com review of the season also shows that the team is missing the production of rookie sensation Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has been injured on and off all season long. The goaltending in Edmonton is failing the team and the Oilers have gone 2-7-1 in the last 10 games as a result.

The Bottom Line

The NHL fans in Edmonton support their team no matter what. When Edmonton came bursting out of the gate at the beginning of the season, the fans were loving it. The fans did not get to see much of the collapse because it happened on the road. Edmonton is hoping to get its groove back with this home game.

Pick: Edmonton Oilers