Edmonton Oilers vs. San Jose Sharks Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/5/2022

by Chuck Sommers

Monday, Apr 04, 2022
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Venue: SAP Center, San Jose, CA
Where to watch: NBCSCA, SNW

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Season record
Oilers: 40-25-5
Sharks: 29-31-8

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Oilers - Sharks preview and analysis


The Edmonton Oilers are in the midst of a playoff spot sitting third in the Pacific Division with a favorable schedule laying in front of them. With the Vegas Golden Knights on their tail, the Oilers are sitting in a comfortable spot right now as they take on the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.

The Oilers are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and have won four straight with wins over the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks. There was a win over the Arizona Coyotes but we won’t discuss that further. Watch, the Coyotes will win four straight and laugh at this write-up.

But the Oilers are playing well right now and that can’t be overlooked. The ideology that we’ve waited this long for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to take their rightful place among the league’s best, not in stats but within the realm of making it far in the postseason, will get a dubious chance this year so long as the Oilers continue to win.

And coming off a 6-1 win against the Ducks on Sunday is exactly why this favorable schedule is right there for them. Whatever they can do in the process of getting to the playoffs and beyond the second round is beyond anyone’s distinction. Whether or not the goaltending situation can actually do something worthwhile remains to be seen. But as long as McDavid and Draisaitl are at the helm and scoring the way they are -- with McDavid scoring over 100 points and Draisaitl not that far behind with 50 goals is truly something to behold.

"Tonight was a great test for us, and I thought we handled it really well," Draisaitl said. "Obviously, on top of that, hitting a milestone, I'm happy about it."

McDavid enters on a 13-game point streak and Draisaitl isn’t far behind with 22 points in 12 games. This California road trip for the Oilers is going to go a long way in how things are handled moving forward and I can’t imagine anything different than Edmonton at least taking care of this slab of business.

"We talked about playing a full 60 (minutes) tonight, and I think that's as close as we've been to doing it this year," Oilers goalie Mike Smith said. "It feels good to get the lead, then keep pushing and kind of put them out of their misery a little bit there."

And the Sharks are nowhere near in contention for anything so the chance for the Northern California aquatic creatures to play spoiler is weighing on the mind here. San Jose nearly helped out its biggest rival the other night by coming back from 4-1 down to nearly defeat the Dallas Statrs and make the wild-card picture even more convoluted than it is.

But the Sharks have lost three straight and have given up 13 goals in that proves with losses to Arizona, Colorado and Dallas. The Sharks are nowhere near the playoff picture and given the fact their cap situation going forward is still hell, who in the world knows what’s going to happen in the years to come with this franchise that was once a standard-setter in this league?

“We lost the first period, we won the second, came out and we won the third,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “But you can’t start allowing four goals.”

Clearly, Bob, you’ve never played NHL 22 before and come back from a 5-goal deficit to win the Stanley Cup with an injured goalie. Clearly I’ve never been brough to that specific situation to make that happen.

Prediction


For as much as I don’t want the Oilers to further cement a spot in the playoffs, I have no choice but to concede that the Oilers are going to win this game. If anything, the Sharks will just provide some entertainment because of whoever is in goal for Edmonton, but whoever is in goal for the Sharks doesn’t help either whether it’s Kaapo Kahkonen or James Reimer, things could get very ugly in San Jose. Oilers win 5-2


Betting trends


The Oilers are 53-34 after four or more straight overs since 1996.

The Oilers are 16-5 this season against division opponents.

The under is 19-8 when the Sharks have lost four or five of their last six this season.

Projected lines


Oilers:

Evander Kane -- Connor McDavid -- Jesse Puljujarvi

Zach Hyman -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kailer Yamamoto

Derick Brassard -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Derek Ryan

Warren Foegele -- Ryan McLeod -- Josh Archibald

Darnell Nurse -- Cody Ceci

Duncan Keith -- Evan Bouchard

Brett Kulak -- Tyson Barrie

Mikko Koskinen

Sharks:

Timo Meier -- Tomas Hertl -- Alexander Barabanov

Rudolfs Balcers -- Logan Couture -- Jonathan Dahlen

Matt Nieto -- Nick Bonino -- Noah Gregor

John Leonard -- Scott Reedy -- Sasha Chmelevski

Jaycob Megna -- Brent Burns

Mario Ferraro -- Erik Karlsson

Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Nicolas Meloche

Kaapo Kahkonen

Statistical leaders


Oilers:
Points: Connor McDavid -- 105
Goals: Leon Draisaitl -- 50
Assists: Connor McDavid -- 65
Goalie: Mikko Koskinen -- 25-10-3, 3.10 GAA, .902 SV%

Sharks:
Points: Timo Meier -- 67
Goals: Timo Meier -- 31
Assists: Timo Meier -- 36
Goalie: James Reimer -- 18-15-6

Don't miss our champion handicappers' free picks and expert hockey picks today. And if you enjoyed this Edmonton Oilers - San Jose Sharks prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our daily NHL projections and previews.

Chuck Sommers

About the Author:

Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.

All photographic images used for editorial content have been licensed from the Associated Press.

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