St. Louis Blues vs. Edmonton Oilers: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 10/22/2022

Time: 4 p.m. ET

Venue: Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB

Where to watch: SN, Bally Sports Midwest

DraftKings: Oilers -145, Blues +125

FanDuel: Oilers -150, Blues +125

BetMGM: Oilers -143, Blues +120

Caesars: Oilers -145, Blues +122

Blues: 2-0-0

Oilers: 2-2-0

Blues: won 4-3 (OT) at Kraken

Oilers: won 6-4 vs. Hurricanes

If we want to talk about goaltending disappointments to begin the season, we might not need to look any further than what the Edmonton Oilers have produced through four games. The signing of Jack Campbell was supposed to be the last fortified sign of defense for them to make a run at the Stanley Cup. Instead, their defense and goaltending is still hot garbage through four games and Connor McDavid has to carry this lifeless corpse of an organization by himself.

The Oilers will welcome the St. Louis Blues to town on Saturday as the Blues look to start 3-0-0 with a tough road contest facing them. Yes, even though the Oilers still can’t play defense to save their lives, they’re still dangerous offensively with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl still leading the way. The Blues, even though David Perron is gone, still have a wide array of dangerous players at their disposal. Vladimir Tarasenko is building off last year’s strong season, and this is the year where Jordan Kyrou should emerge as a young star.

But it has been a strong start for the Blues, opening the year with a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, then a 4-3 overtime win in Seattle against the pesky Kraken. Justin Faulk scored twice, including the game-winner in overtime, and Jordan Binnington made 32 saves to get his second win to get off to a good start to the year. But the man that makes this machine go right now is Tarasenko, who had three assists in that game. From nearly being traded to staying true, it’s Tarasenko’s team now.

“He's dangerous,” Faulk said about Tarasenko. “I think it attracts a lot of attention. He could shoot and score from anywhere. So anytime that puck's on his stick he probably creates more space for his teammates and finds opportunities for them. When they’re dangerous players like that, teams have to take notice and be aware.”

The Blues, people forget, are still the same group that went to the second round of the playoffs last year and nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages against Colorado. Whether they can replicate that or not is still too early to tell, but at the very least, they’re going to be competitive all the way through this year.

And we should expect that from the Oilers at some point if they figure out how to play defense. This is not going to be a cakewalk to the conference final like last year was. And even if they do get back, are we really thinking they’re going to get by Colorado or anyone else? Likely not. So this is just a small stepping stone to see how far they can get this time around. But Edmonton is coming off its best win of the year, a 6-4 win over the powerhouse Carolina Hurricanes and withstood a hat trick from Andrei Svechnikov.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and three assists, and McDavid had a goal and three assists for the Oilers, who led the entire way and withstood the offense from Carolina and getting by Freddie Andersen. Campbell made 36 saves in his best effort as an Oiler.

“It was a big win for our group,” McDavid said. “It was a great test against a really good Carolina team, and they gave us everything that we could handle. Soup (Campbell) made some big saves and our power play did its thing. It was a big win, a bit ugly, but we’ll take it. Being 2-2 is nothing to write home about, but we’ll take it.”

The Oilers are slight favorites going into this one, seeing moneylines as high as -145 at some books. At home with some travel, the Oilers should win this game.

However, I need another big game from Campbell in order to think they have a chance. Binnington will have a tough go, but I like the way St. Louis’ defensive structure looks. Give me the Blues. Blues win 5-3

Blues are 24-10 on the road when the total is 6 or more the last three years.

Blues are 23-19 off a road win over the last three years.

Oilers are 17-16 off a non-conference game the last three years.

Oilers are 35-26 off a two-goal win over the last three years.

Blues:

Brandon Saad -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Jordan Kyrou

Pavel Buchnevich -- Robert Thomas -- Vladimir Tarasenko

Jake Neighbours -- Brayden Schenn -- Ivan Barbashev

Alexey Toropchenko -- Noel Acciari -- Nathan Walker

Nick Leddy -- Colton Parayko

Torey Krug -- Justin Faulk

Niko Mikkola -- Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington

Oilers:

Evander Kane -- Connor McDavid -- Kailer Yamamoto

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Leon Draisaitl -- Zach Hyman

Warren Foegele -- Ryan McLeod -- Jesse Puljujarvi

Devin Shore -- Derek Ryan

Darnell Nurse -- Cody Ceci

Ryan Murray -- Evan Bouchard

Brett Kulak -- Tyson Barrie

Markus Niemelainen  

Jack Campbell

Points: Vladimir Tarasenko -- 5

Goals: Vladimir Tarasenko -- 2

Assists: Vladimir Tarasenko -- 3

Goalie: Jordan Binnington -- 2-0-0, 2.46 GAA, .917 SV%

Points: Connor McDavid -- 10

Goals: Connor McDavid -- 5

Assists: Leon Draisaitl -- 6

Goalie: Jack Campbell -- 2-1-0, 5.08 GAA, .874 SV%