Face-off: 1900 ET, 26/04/2022
Arena: PPG Paints Arena
Pittsburgh and Edmonton have both safely qualified for the playoffs but the Penguins may still have more to play for at PPG Paints Arena.
They are only one point ahead of Washington in the battle for a top-three finish in the Metropolitan Division and have one game less to play.
That pushes us towards taking 1.95 for a home win in our Pittsburgh Penguins vs Edmonton Oilers predictions.
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Pittsburgh Penguins Odds
Pittsburgh suffered mixed fortunes in a weekend double-header on the road, romping to a 7-2 victory at Detroit but then going down 4-1 at Philadelphia.
Coach Mike Sullivan said of Sunday’s defeat: “We just weren’t good enough. We didn’t play well enough to win.”
Sidney Crosby did manage to hit the target and now has 84 points for the season, with 31 goals and 53 assists.
“You’ve got to get up for these games,” he declared. “You’ve got to find a way, obviously.”
Crosby previously had a goal and an assist versus the Red Wings and is 2.55 to post over 1.5 points here in the NHL odds.
Getting back on home ice should help the Penguins, as they have won their last three matches at this venue.
In what promises to be an end-to-end contest, we like 3.0 for Pittsburgh to prevail in regular time and both teams to score at least twice.
Edmonton Oilers Odds
Edmonton are assured of gaining automatic qualification to the playoffs despite going down 5-2 at Columbus on Sunday.
That halted a run of four straight wins in a 10-1-1 hot streak, even though some of their big guns fired yet again.
Evander Kane bagged his 21st goal of the season and a fifth strike in three games.
Leon Draisaitl posted his 24th powerplay score and Connor McDavid had a couple of assists to make it a career-high 118 points this term.
“We had a lot of chances, but credit to their goalie,” said forward Zach Hyman. “He made saves and we didn’t capitalise.
“As you get closer to the playoffs, those chances are harder to come by.
“So, we’ve got to put it on ourselves to bear down, especially a team like that – you could put them away early and take the life out of the game and shut it down.”
McDavid had a four-point night when the Oilers beat Pittsburgh 5-2 in Canada in December, so 2.0 he has more than one again here is added to our NHL predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
Philadelphia 4-1 PITTSBURGH
Columbus 5-2 EDMONTON
Season head-to-head: Edmonton 5-2 Pittsburgh
