Edmonton Oilers (38-27-9) at Chicago Blackhawks (34-31-8)
NHL Hockey: Friday, August 7, 2020 at 6:45 pm (Rogers Place)
The Line: Chicago Blackhawks +115 / Edmonton Oilers -135 --- Over/Under: 6.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Edmonton Oilers and the Chicago Blackhawks meet in game four of their best-of-five qualifying round series in NHL action from Rogers Place on Friday.
The Edmonton Oilers will look to force a game five after falling behind Chicago 2-1 in the series after a 4-3 loss to the Blackhawks in game three last time out. O
Olli Maatta opened the scoring for the Blackhawks just over nine minutes into the game but Leon Draisaitl would tie the game at one for Edmonton just :28 later. Jonathan Toews would restore Chicago’s lead with just :05 to go in the opening frame but Draisaitl would tie the game at two for Edmonton just over four minutes into the second before Connor McDavid pushed Edmonton in front 3-2 with just :08 to play in the middle period. Edmonton’s lead held for much of the 3rd but Matthew Highmore would tie the game at three for the Hawks with just under six minutes to go in the game and Toews would push Chicago in front for good at 4-3 with just over a minute to go with his second goal of the game.
Corey Crawford got the win in goal for Chicago after stopping 25 of 28 shots faced in the winning effort while Mikko Koskinen took the loss for Edmonton after allowing 4 goals on 25 shots faced in the defeat.
Edmonton is 1-4 in their last 5 games overall and 9-4 in their last 13 playoff games as a favorite while the over is 8-2-1 in their last 11 games against a team with a losing record. Chicago is 7-3 in their lat 10 games overall and 5-2 in their last 7 games as an underdog while the over is 6-1 in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record. The over is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings between these two teams.
I really think Edmonton’s up against it here, and we’re seeing the same issue in the other 5/12 matchup in the East as the 5 seeds (Edmonton and Pittsburgh) are having trouble with handling all of the pressure that comes with the expectations that they should be a 12-seed that in a normal year would be well out of the playoff picture. Chicago’s no slouch and I think they have a good chance at upending the Oilers here, but I think my stronger play here is going to be the over once again. It’s hit in all three games in this series and the three games have combined for 26 goals, a pace of almost 9 per game. I think we see another high-scoring affair here, so I’ll side with the over in this one.
Chris’s Pick Over 6.5
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo
Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg