Free Picks: Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks

You wouldn’t necessarily consider Edmonton a threat by any means. However, in the first-period they are deadly. The Oilers enter Monday’s contest against Vancouver scoring the majority of their goals in the first period. As for Vancouver, they struggle in the opening frame, which has me believing the Canucks will be losing after 20 minutes.

Everyone is well aware of how talented Connor McDavid is. But this season, he is scoring at an unreal pace thanks to the lesser competition in the North Division. That isn’t to discredit McDavid by any means, but playing teams like Vancouver and Ottawa have certainly helped pad his stats.

Tuesday night, McDavid will look to flash his brilliance once again taking on the Vancouver Canucks.

Instead of picking the normal over/under totals or Moneyline bets that I usually place, I noticed how good Edmonton has been in the first period. So, for the first time this season on BetPicks, I am going to focus on the first period Moneyline.

Vancouver is 0-11 on the season when the opponent scores first. In the first period this season, the Oilers have scored 28 goals – the most goals of the three periods. Diving further into first-period stats, the Canucks’ first period shows the least number of goals scored by the team.

The Canucks are definitely not a first-period team in terms of scoring. In periods 2 and 3, that is where the Canucks’ offense ramps up. Unfortunately for them, they are playing one of the hottest first-period teams in the entire North Division. For this free NHL pick and prediction, I think we stick with the first period and how strong the Oilers have been.

Vancouver’s first period sees a good number of shots, but they don’t have enough offensive production to change the NHL regular season odds. Meanwhile, Edmonton’s shots per period peak during the second and then drastically declines in the third.

Basically, the Oilers are a first-period team which is why after 20 minutes of play, they will hold the lead. At worst, I see this contest being a push. Vancouver is a terrible first-period team and I can’t see them upping their production against Edmonton on Tuesday.

The Oilers come out firing in the opening frame, which is why I think the Oilers’ first period ML is the way to go.

• The Canucks are 0-11 when the opponent scores first.
• Vancouver has lost 9 of their last 11 games.
• The Oilers are 10-2 when leading after the first period.
• Edmonton has scored 28 of their 72 goals in the first period.