After suffering an ugly 7-2 loss versus the Dallas Stars Thursday, the Edmonton Oilers will look to respond Friday versus a less formidable opponent, the St. Louis Blues. Edmonton has started its daunting four-game road trip with a record of 2-1-0, and while Thursday’s performance was a clear disappointment, a 3-1-0 record on the trip would be a clear-cut success, and we’ll also try to capitalize by crafting a same game parlay for this exciting NHL matchup.
The Blues, meanwhile, have been playing some surprisingly strong hockey since the Olympic break. They hold a record of 6-1-1 since the restart, including an impressive road win over the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday evening.
Friday’s SGP prices out at +550 at the time of writing, and is eligible for a 30% same game parlay boost from our top-ranked NHL betting site, bet365.
- Robert Thomas Over 0.5 Points (-170 as a straight bet)
- Jimmy Snuggerud Over 2.5 Shots on Goal (+110 as a straight bet)
- Evan Bouchard Over 2.5 Shots on Goal (+100 as a straight bet)
Nick’s Oilers/Blues SGP
Leg 1: Robert Thomas Over 0.5 Points (-170 as a straight bet)
Thomas was without question the best skater reported to be available at the NHL’s trade deadline. But given how difficult it is to reach an agreement on a player of Thomas’s calibre in season, it’s not overly surprising that he ultimately ended up staying in St. Louis.
Since returning to the lineup on March 1st, he’s netted four goals and six assists across six games, and his return to the lineup has been a key reason for the Blues’ surprising upswing. He enters this matchup in the midst of an eight-game point streak, and has found great success playing alongside Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud at even strength of late.
Despite last night’s hiccup versus an extremely formidable Dallas Stars side, it does seem logical to conclude Edmonton will clean things up defensively as it typically has done leading up to the playoffs in previous seasons, particularly after acquiring Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson.
Still, the Oilers have allowed 3.41 goals against per game this season, so there is a pretty large gap between them cleaning things up to some extent defensively versus being a legitimately strong defensive side.
While many bettors aren’t huge on laying prices in the -170 range, there’s a pretty strong case that suggests in what will likely be a fairly high-scoring matchup, Thomas should be priced at closer to -200 to record a point right now, and -170 looks very livable.
Leg 2: Jimmy Snuggerud Over 2.5 Shots on Goal (+110 as a straight bet)
Snuggerud has come on really strong in the later stages of his rookie campaign, and his offensive skillset has meshed quite well alongside an elite playmaker in Thomas on the Blues’ top line of late. Over the last four games, Snuggerud has recorded five goals and four assists while averaging 5.5 shot attempts per game, and having Thomas back in the lineup has helped boost his shot attempt volume.
Over the last 10 games, Snuggerud has led all Blues skaters with 13 points and has averaged 17:21 of time-on-ice. Head coach Jim Montgomery’s usage of his top forwards has been fairly hit-or-miss this season, but Snuggerud seems to have etched out a consistent role on the top line and top power-play unit.
Snuggerud was drafted with the potential to be an offensive star, and he’s shown exactly why of late. He’s well-situated to continue his recent goal-scoring surge playing on what has been a highly effective top line, and this seems to be a good spot to back him recording at least three shots on target for a fourth consecutive game at +110.
Leg 3: Evan Bouchard Over 2.5 Shots on Goal (+100 as a straight bet)
Backing Bouchard to record a point has consistently made the cut in all of our most recent Oilers same game parlays, and to this point he has not let us down. With the price for Bouchard to record over 2.5 shots on goal now back up to +100, this looks like a good time to buy-low on him in that regard.
The Blues have allowed 8.6 shots on goal per game versus defenders this season, which is the fifth-highest mark in the NHL, as well as 9.7 shots on goal versus defenders over the last 10 games.
Over the last 15 games, Bouchard has averaged 3.6 shots on goal and recorded over 2.5 shots on goal nine times. For this prop to be set at +100 in a favourable matchup, oddsmakers are displaying a pretty clear contention that Bouchard’s shot volume is due to drop off soon, and I’m not sold that is the case.
Throughout the last 15 games, Bouchard has averaged 6.06 shot attempts per game, and 24:28 of time on ice. He’s scored eight goals in that span, and from a strategical perspective, it seems unlikely that the process which has led to strong recent shot volume will change anytime soon.
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