by Team Del Genio
Friday, May 31, 2024The Edmonton Oilers evened the Western Conference finals at 2-2 with their 5-2 victory in Game 4 on Wednesday. After Games 2 and 3 in this series had seven and eight combined goals, we projected for scoring the fifth game of this series akin to the Oilers’ 3-1 victory in Game 1. The under was the Team’s NHL Total of the Month.
The Oilers are getting better goaltending from Stuart Skinner who stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced in Game 4. Going into Game 5, he had not given up more than two goals in five of his last six starts in the postseason, and he has an improved .901 save percentage in those six games. Edmonton’s defense is doing a good job of limiting the scoring chances of the Stars. Going into Friday’s game, Dallas was averaging only 24.3 chances per game in this series, and only 9.3 of these chances per game are considered high-danger chances. The Oilers lead all teams in the playoffs by not allowing a goal in 93.2% of their opponent’s power play opportunities. The Stars had not scored in their nine power plays in this series. Edmonton had played eleven of their last fifteen games on the road under the number after winning their previous game by two or more goals. After playing Games 3 and 4 at home, they went back on the road for Game 5, and they had played 16 of their last 25 under the total after playing two games in a row at home.
Dallas had played eleven of their last sixteen games under the number after losing their previous game by two or more goals. They had played five of their last seven games under the total after losing on the road by multiple goals. The Stars had played twenty-two of their last thirty-two games at home under the total after a loss by more than one goal. They had given up eight goals in the last two games, yet they had played five of their last seven games under the total after allowing three or more goals in two straight games.
Goalie Jake Oettinger had still been playing well in this postseason. He has a .917 save percentage and a 2.20 goals-against average in seventeen playoff games. Dallas was rested after getting six days off after winning their series with Colorado on May 17th. They had played ten of their last twelve games at home under the number when playing for the fifth time or less in the last two weeks. In the Stars' previous four games in the playoffs this year, three of those games finished under the total.
Dallas had thwarted all six of the Oilers’ power plays in this series, yet Edmonton finally broke that streak late in the first period in Game 5 when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored with the man advantage. He added a second power-play goal early in the second period to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead. They scored just after the first minute to extend their lead to 3-0 early in the second period, and that ended the scoring in the second twenty minutes.
Wyatt Johnston got the Stars on the board just after fourteen minutes in the third period, yet Dallas could not beat Skinner a second time and took the 3-1 loss. The Stars had only 20 shot attempts on net which continues a disturbing trend for them. Since getting 32 shots on net in Game 1, they have seen their activity drop to 25 shots in Game 2, 22 shots in Games 3 and 4, before the 20 shots in Game 5. Skinner improved his save percentage to .908 in his seven starts in the playoffs.
Oettinger let three shots beat him on the Oilers’ 26 attempts. The under may be tempting for some bettors, yet we are likely to consider other options in this potential close-out game with the Stars playing on the road on the base ice in Edmonton.
Good luck - TDG.
The Oilers are getting better goaltending from Stuart Skinner who stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced in Game 4. Going into Game 5, he had not given up more than two goals in five of his last six starts in the postseason, and he has an improved .901 save percentage in those six games. Edmonton’s defense is doing a good job of limiting the scoring chances of the Stars. Going into Friday’s game, Dallas was averaging only 24.3 chances per game in this series, and only 9.3 of these chances per game are considered high-danger chances. The Oilers lead all teams in the playoffs by not allowing a goal in 93.2% of their opponent’s power play opportunities. The Stars had not scored in their nine power plays in this series. Edmonton had played eleven of their last fifteen games on the road under the number after winning their previous game by two or more goals. After playing Games 3 and 4 at home, they went back on the road for Game 5, and they had played 16 of their last 25 under the total after playing two games in a row at home.
Dallas had played eleven of their last sixteen games under the number after losing their previous game by two or more goals. They had played five of their last seven games under the total after losing on the road by multiple goals. The Stars had played twenty-two of their last thirty-two games at home under the total after a loss by more than one goal. They had given up eight goals in the last two games, yet they had played five of their last seven games under the total after allowing three or more goals in two straight games.
Goalie Jake Oettinger had still been playing well in this postseason. He has a .917 save percentage and a 2.20 goals-against average in seventeen playoff games. Dallas was rested after getting six days off after winning their series with Colorado on May 17th. They had played ten of their last twelve games at home under the number when playing for the fifth time or less in the last two weeks. In the Stars' previous four games in the playoffs this year, three of those games finished under the total.
Dallas had thwarted all six of the Oilers’ power plays in this series, yet Edmonton finally broke that streak late in the first period in Game 5 when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored with the man advantage. He added a second power-play goal early in the second period to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead. They scored just after the first minute to extend their lead to 3-0 early in the second period, and that ended the scoring in the second twenty minutes.
Wyatt Johnston got the Stars on the board just after fourteen minutes in the third period, yet Dallas could not beat Skinner a second time and took the 3-1 loss. The Stars had only 20 shot attempts on net which continues a disturbing trend for them. Since getting 32 shots on net in Game 1, they have seen their activity drop to 25 shots in Game 2, 22 shots in Games 3 and 4, before the 20 shots in Game 5. Skinner improved his save percentage to .908 in his seven starts in the playoffs.
Oettinger let three shots beat him on the Oilers’ 26 attempts. The under may be tempting for some bettors, yet we are likely to consider other options in this potential close-out game with the Stars playing on the road on the base ice in Edmonton.
Good luck - TDG.
