The Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers square off in a star-studded Saturday night showdown.
The pregame narrative: Auston Matthews is out of the lineup, but there is still plenty of elite talent in this contest. Connor McDavid, who’s back and firing on all cylinders for Edmonton, should produce a multi-point performance. I’m fading two Maple Leafs, Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies, on their shot props.
Check out our Maple Leafs props vs. Oilers for the game on Nov. 16.
Maple Leafs props vs. Oilers
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Best Bet: McDavid to score 2+ points (+100)
I’m jumping on the McDavid bandwagon as the NHL’s premier player visits his home province on Saturday night.
McDavid has been his usual, otherworldly self since returning from injury. After scoring zero points in his first contest back, McDavid has compiled nine points in his last three games while registering two-plus points in each contest.
His return has galvanized the Oilers’ offence, which has notched 14 goals across its last three contests.
Edmonton is also ceding a fair amount of goals, which could lead to a high-scoring game. The Oilers have surrendered three-plus goals in four of their last five outings.
Toronto’s defence and goaltending haven’t been sharp this week. The team allowed six combined goals against the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals.
Bet on a solid night from McDavid as he aims to stay hot.
Key stat: McDavid has scored two-plus points in five of his last eight contests.
Quick picks
Rielly under 1.5 shots on goal (+130): Rielly isn’t putting much rubber on goal this season and is a nice plus-money pick to go below this total.
Rielly is averaging fewer than two shots per game with 35 shots across 18 contests. It’s worth mentioning that he’s coming off his best shooting performance of the season (five shots vs. WSH), but that type of effort has been infrequent.
Rielly has fallen short of this total in five of his last eight games.
Edmonton doesn’t give up many shots, either. It’s ceding the third-fewest shots per game this year (25.5).
Knies under 1.5 shots on goal (+115): Knies is another player who should struggle to generate shots in a difficult matchup.
Like Rielly, the young Maple Leafs forward has 35 shots in 18 games.
His recent results point toward the under cashing, too. Knies has gone under this mark in three of his last four games with just three total shots during that stretch.
Knies is 11th among all Leafs forwards in shots per 60 (6.39), according to Natural Stat Trick.
Picks made at 12:30 p.m. ET on 11/16/24.
Stevie’s an avid NFL, NHL, and tennis bettor who has no problem talking himself into the underdog. His previous stops include Yahoo! Sports Canada and Toronto Metropolitan University, where he received a degree in Sport Media.