Devils vs Oilers Prediction — Can Edmonton Stay Hot at Home?

The New Jersey Devils are heading out to Edmonton tonight for a tough matchup against one of the league’s hottest teams. It’s the 2nd and final meeting between these 2 teams for the season, and the Devils took the first one back in October during their 8-game winning streak — but it seems that version of New Jersey is long gone.

Edmonton is surging right now as the Oilers have won 3 straight and just posted back-to-back shutouts over Vancouver and St. Louis. Connor McDavid continues to do what he does best, and that’s rack up points while the team is locking things down defensively. The Devils, on the other hand, just squeaked past Calgary in OT, are dealing with injuries, and now face a brutal back-to-back. It’s already looking bad for New Jersey.

Game Details and Betting Odds

The puck drops at 10 PM EST from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. The Oilers are listed by most bookmakers as -163 favorites on the moneyline, while the Devils come in as underdogs at +137. The total is set at 6.5 goals.

New Jersey won the first meeting between these teams 5-3 back in October, but that win came during their peak stretch of the season. Since then, it’s been a fairly different story as now the Devils are hovering around the middle of the Metro and have lacked any amount of consistency. Edmonton, meanwhile, is quickly climbing the standings in the Pacific and playing with more confidence on both ends of the ice.

This is a matchup between one of the league’s best offensive teams and a Devils group that has struggled to generate offense for several weeks now. And this time around, the cards are really stacked against them as New Jersey has to do it on the road, on the second night of a back-to-back, without one of their key young defensemen.

Offense, Defense, and Recent Trends

The numbers tell the entire story. To nobody’s surprise, the Oilers rank 2nd in the NHL in total goals with 170 and 3rd in assists with 287. The Devils, in comparison, are 28th in both goals and assists. That’s a massive gap we simply can’t ignore, especially considering New Jersey has only scored 126 goals this season. It’s not just that Edmonton scores more — it’s how easily they generate offensive momentum.

Connor McDavid is having another monster season as you might’ve expected. He enters this game with 85 points spanning 30 goals and 55 helpers. That’s more than double the output of New Jersey’s top scorer, Nico Hischier, who leads the team with just 37 points in total. Jesper Bratt has been somewhat of a bright spot for New Jersey with 27 assists, but even he’s been quiet over the past couple of weeks as he’s only racked up 4 points in 8 games. The Devils are averaging just 2.57 GF/G, while the Oilers are scoring 3.40 GF/G. That’s nearly a full goal difference every night.

On special teams, it’s yet another mismatch. Edmonton’s power play is converting at a whopping 33.1%, which is the best in the NHL. New Jersey sits at 20.5%, which isn’t terrible but ranks in the middle of the pack. The Oilers also hold an edge on the PK, with 80.4% compared to the Devils’ 77.6%. That’s not a massive difference, but against a team with McDavid on the man advantage, every percentage point matters.

Surprisingly enough, goaltending has become a strength for Edmonton recently. Tristan Jarry has posted a 2.64 GAA and .909 SV%, and he’s coming off a weekend shutout. Backup Connor Ingram also got a win a couple of nights ago, holding the Blues scoreless. Altogether, the Oilers have 5 shutouts this season, which puts them in the top 5 of the league.

New Jersey likely turns to Jake Allen in the crease, with Jacob Markstrom starting on Monday in Calgary. Allen has respectable stats — a 2.68 GAA and .908 SV% —, but this will be his first start in a week, and it’s coming on the road against a top-tier offense.

The Devils are 5-5 in their last 10 games. They’ve managed to beat the likes of Seattle and Calgary, but have looked simply overmatched against better teams. In their last 5 games, they’ve scored more than 3 goals just once, and that came in a win over Minnesota. The Oilers are 5-3-2 in their last 10, with shutout wins in their last 2 games. That’s 120 minutes of hockey without the puck ever finding the back of the net. They’ve only allowed just a single goal over their last 3 games and are clearly tightening things up on the defensive end.

Add in the fact that New Jersey will be without defenseman Luke Hughes, who left Monday’s game early and has been ruled out for the rest of the road trip, and things get even tougher for the Devils. Edmonton is 12-6-4 at home and is playing like a team that knows exactly what it needs to do down the stretch.

Of course, Edmonton will be without Leon Draisaitl again tonight as he’s expected to be back in the lineup later this week, but his absence doesn’t seem to be affecting the Oilers too much. Their depth seems to be doing just fine with guys like Jack Roslovic and Kasperi Kapanen having multi-goal nights since Drasaitl has been gone.

Prediction and Best Pick

Edmonton has all the edges here between their firepower, goaltending, special teams, and momentum. The Devils might’ve won the first meeting, but that game came during a hot streak that no longer exists, and both of these teams are trending in very different directions. New Jersey is limping into this one, playing the second night of a back-to-back, missing one of their most important young blueliners, and facing a team that has given up just one goal in 3 games.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how this one goes down.

Jake Allen will have to be nearly perfect for the Devils to even stay competitive in this one. But with how easily the Oilers are moving the puck right now, especially on the power play, that feels like a bridge too far. Edmonton’s ability to score early and often has been on full display lately, and if they jump out in front, the Devils may not have the scoring punch to claw back.

• Prediction: Oilers 4, Devils 1
• Best Bet: Oilers -1.5 (+150)

Edmonton has covered the puck line in their last 2 wins and undeniably has the firepower to do it again. With fatigue, injuries, and a red-hot Oilers team standing in their way, this looks like another tough night for New Jersey.