NHL Preview & Picks – November 18, 2021

The NHL originally had 12 games scheduled for tonight however, the Ottawa/ Nashville game has been postponed due to Ottawa having a COVID outbreak. There are still some great matchups tonight including Tampa Bay/ Philadelphia, New York Rangers/ Toronto, Winnipeg/ Edmonton, and Carolina/ Anaheim. I have two picks for tonight’s slate on a couple of those matchups mentioned above. Check out my preview and picks below:

Winnipeg Jets @ Edmonton Oilers

• Time: 9:00 PM ET
• TV Coverage:
• Winnipeg Jets: 9-3-3, 1st Central (2-2-2 Away)
• Edmonton Oilers: 11-4, 2nd Pacific (7-1-1 Home)

The Winnipeg Jets face take on the Edmonton Oilers for the second time in three days. Winnipeg defeated the Oilers 5-2 at home on Tuesday to jump ahead of Minnesota and take first place in the Central Division. With Edmonton’s loss the Anaheim Ducks, who I’ll get to later, took over first place in the Pacific Division. However, the Oilers do have two games on the Ducks.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets come into Edmonton on a three game win streak that included a win over the Oilers, as I previously mentioned. Winnipeg has been dominant all year at home with a 7-1-1 record but have struggled on the road. So far this year the Jets have been great offensively averaging 2.62 goals for per 60.  They have generated the 4th most high danger shots for with 33 which ranks 3rd in the NHL.  Kyle Connor leads the team with 20 points through 15 games, scoring in his last four games. Nikolaj Ehlers is questionable for the Jets as he’s battling an Illness, while Paul Stastny has been downgraded to out.

Defensively Winnipeg has been great with a -10.61 goals against above expected. They currently rank 8th in goals allowed but, have much better as of late only allowing 1.3 goals in their last 6 games. One stat that should worry the Jets here is that they have allowed the third most high danger shots against and face one of the best offenses in the NHL. Connor Hellebuyck is expected to start and has been great this year with a +5.8 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx). In his last game vs Edmonton he held them to 2 goals finishing with a +1.21 GSAx.

Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers have regressed a bit from their hot start alternating between wins and losses their last 7 games. Some of those losses in that stretch have come to surprising opponents including Buffalo and Detroit. However, their wins have come against some impressive opponents such as Boston, New York (R), and St. Louis. They should respond well against the Jets here after getting embarrassed. Mikko Koskinen was pulled in that game after surrendering 4 goals on 26 shots.

The Oilers offense has been the highlight of this team for the past few years and continues to shine. The Oilers average 4 goals per game and have a 2.78 goals for per 60. One mismatch that favors Edmonton is their Power Play. The Oilers have the best Power Play % in the NHL with a 42.6% conversion rate while the Jets have the worst Penalty Kill % with a 64.3%. Their offense is led by Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid who are first and second in the NHL in points.

The main reason for the regression of the Oilers is due to their defense. To start the year they surprised most by shutting down most teams but, as of late are averaging 4.4 goals against in their last 5 games. They’re have an average of 3.33 goals allowed on the year so you can see how much they’ve struggled recently. Mikko Koskinen will not get his chance at redemption here as Stuart Skinner has been confirmed the starter for tonight. Skinner has a better GSAx (+2.1) than Koskinen (-0.5) on the year. He stopped all 8 shots he faced against the Jets when he came in for Koskinen last game.

PICK #1: EDMONTON OILERS (-150)

If you’re not comfortable laying the juice, Edmonton to win in Regulation -0.5 is +110

PICK #2: OVER 6.0 (-115)

The Oilers should rebound here after a brutal performance against the Jets last time out and put some goals on the board. The Jets allow more goals than they do on the road and average less goals for. Edmonton has been solid at home all year and have a mismatch on the man advantage. They were 50% on the Power Play last game vs Winnipeg which is an encouraging sign. The Jets offense has been clicking and face a weak Oilers defense so they should be able to do close to the same thing offensively as they did last time out. This should be a closer affair so I’m guessing a 4-3 game with a Edmonton goal coming late.

Carolina Hurricanes @ Anaheim Ducks

• Time: 10:00 PM ET
• TV Coverage:
• Carolina Hurricanes: 12-2-0, 1st Metropolitan (6-1-0 Away)
• Anaheim Ducks: 10-4-3, 1st Pacific (7-2-1 Home)

Anaheim Ducks

No one could have expected the Ducks to start the season 10-4-3 and lead the Pacific, yet here we are. The Anaheim Ducks have rattled off 8 straight wins with their last loss coming against the Golden Knights on October 29. Prior to this 8 game win streak, they were on a 6 game losing streak which shows how streaky this team is.

The Ducks offense has found its groove as of late improving from the beginning of the year yet still ranks middle of the NHL in expected goals for per 60 with 2.2. Anaheim has a +1.56 goal differential above expected which correlates to their high shooting %. This means that they’re converting scoring chances at a rate higher than expected. Their Power Play has also been a strong suit for them with a 27.8 conversion rate (4th in NHL). Troy Terry, a Denver University product, leads the team in points with 21. Long time Captain Ryan Getzlaf has also found his scoring touch recently becoming the first player in Ducks history to reach 1000 points.

Anaheim’s defense has been much improved this year averaging just 2.65 goals against, good enough for 10th in the league. However, they are allowing a lot of shots against which may be an issue against this high powered Carolina offense. John Gibson is expected to get the start who has been average this year with a -0.2 GSAx. He’s allowed 2 goals or less in his last 7 starts with the exception of the game against the Kraken where he gave up 4.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Cane’s will give Anaheim their toughest matchup as of late and should halt their winning streak. Carolina is a very good team and one of my current selections to win the Stanley Cup (+1400 now). They are playing some phenomenal hockey and clicking on all cylinders.

Carolina also comes into this matchup on a winning streak, while not as impressive as the Ducks, they have rattled off back to back wins. The Hurricanes got off to a great start winning their first 9 games then falling to the Panthers and Flyers. This will be the second game on the road for Carolina in the middle of their five game road trip.

Offensively the Hurricanes rank 4th in goals per game averaging 3.5 and 3rd in goals per 60 with 2.97. However, in their last three games Carolina has only averaged 2.33 goals. The Hurricanes also have a +2.51 goals above expected with one of the best shooting % on shots on goal (8.88%). Andrei Svechnikov leads the team on offense averaging over a point per game with 18 points through 14 games. Carolina may get Martin Necas back from an undisclosed injury, while Brett Pesce is out indefinitely.

Defensively, Carolina ranks first in goals allowed per game with 1.91 and have a 1.63 goals against per 60. The Hurricanes have given up 32 high danger shots against which is 5th worst. This could become an issue here as the Ducks have a high rate of capitalizing on scoring opportunities. One strong point for Carolina’s team defense is that they have been good on the Penalty Kill ranking 7th (86.7%). Frederick Anderson is expected to start and has been one of the best goalies in the NHL so far. He has a +11.0 GSAx through his 11 starts with a 1.77 GAA.

PICK: CAROLINA HURRICANES (-140)

If you’re not comfortable laying the juice, Carolina to win in Regulation -0.5 is +110

This a matchup between two of the leagues best teams. They’re both top 10 on offense and on defense. The one mismatch is that Carolina has the clear advantage in is in net, if Anderson and Gibson both start. I like Carolina in this spot to end the Ducks win streak. Both teams are coming off the same amount of rest but, Anaheim has not seen a team play as fast as Carolina does. The Ducks will give the Canes a game here but I think that the Hurricanes get it done on the road.

Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.