So far, it has been all Colorado in their Western Conference Final series against Edmonton. On Monday night, the Oilers face elimination against the Avalanche. Edmonton will be on home ice and fight for the dignity of not getting swept at home. Yet it may not matter against an Avalanche team showing power with the NHL betting odds. Edmonton’s defensive and goaltending weaknesses have been fully exposed by Colorado. Otherwise, the Avalanche is confirmed as deeper and better defensively. Some gamblers got sucked into the Connor McDavid hype on the Oil. All faith has been squandered.
2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Colorado Avalanche vs. Edmonton Oilers Game 4
| Date and Time: | Monday, June 6, 2022, 8 p.m. ET |
|---|---|
| Location: | Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta |
| TV Coverage: | TNT |
| Team | Spread | Total | ML | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche | -1½ (+170) | 6½ (-140) | -133 |  |
| Oilers | +1½ (-200) | 6½ (+120) | +113 | |
| ||||
SBG Odds Overview A Hard Sell on Dry Oil Well
The same public that bet on Edmonton to win the series has run for the tall grass. Despite playing at home, the Oilers will be a sportsbook longshot on Monday night. Colorado will be an expensive play for game four. But a lot of gamblers won’t care. Edmonton played a tighter game three on Saturday. Yet the Oilers were still on the short end of a 4-2 loss. Colorado leads the best of seven series 3-0.
Dry Well for the Oilers
Following an 8-6 game one shootout, Edmonton lost the next two games, 4-0 and 4-2. Colorado head coach Jared Bednar made the necessary defensive corrections. Bednar is schooling Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. The Edmonton rookie has done well to get the Oil this far. But Bednar has been through several playoff ringers. Colorado’s bench boss has grown into one of the best.
Edmonton Goaltender Mike Smith has cooled off after a hot second round against the Calgary Flames. Although Smith has had a good postseason, he has let in too many soft goals against the Avalanche.
Correspondingly the Oilers are struggling to find secondary scoring. Edmonton has long been derided as a one-line team. In the Western Conference Final, that weakness has been exposed. More emphatically, Connor McDavid is not getting the same level of help as he did in the first two rounds.
An Avalanche of Weapons
On the other hand, Avalanche gets important contributions from multiple sources. First is center Nathan MacKinnon with ten goals, seven assists, and a +11. Defenseman Cale Makar has four goals, 13 assists, and a +12. Additionally, Makar has six power-play assists. Makar continues to make a case for being the best defenseman in the NHL.
Namely, Pavel Francouz came through with an impressive performance in game four. Francouz was filling in for starting goaltender Darcy Kemper and stopped 27 out of 29 shots for the win. Francouz allowed an early goal but was not rattled and stood his ground from there. Concurrently, Kuemper remains questionable for game four. But Colorado has confidence that Francouz can bring effective goaltending.
Colorado Avalanche at Edmonton Oilers
Certainly, the Oilers will get a good NHL betting price for this game. It is true that Colorado has been the more dominant team in this series. But Edmonton has pride and wants to give their passionate fan base some reward.
Avalanche at Oilers BG Best Bet: Edmonton Oilers.