Ryan Hodges
This rematch of last year’s Western Conference Final, at least in terms of an early series split, looks about how fans would have expected. It was a bit of a bizarre way to get to a 1-1 series tie going into Game 3. Nonetheless, that is where these teams stand. With a split in Dallas, the Oilers now have home-ice advantage in what has become a best of 5 as the series heads north to Edmonton. The Stars will play with a little more urgency to reclaim home-ice and be positioned to win this series, while the Oilers will play with more urgency to take a stranglehold at home.
Game 3 has the makings of another fantastic game, which could be made even more entertaining with a wager or two. If interested, here are some picks we like for this game both as individual plays and as a same-game parlay at +485 odds. You can also get our NHL picks for this matchup and every game throughout the Conference Finals.
Oilers -1.5 (+154)
Zach Hyman anytime goalscorer (+230)
Stars vs Oilers Same Game Parlay odds: +485
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Edmonton Oilers win -1.5 over Dallas Stars (+154)
The Oilers were a few penalties and ultimately a bad period away from potentially being up 2-0 in this series headed home. While the reality is the series is knotted up at 1 win a side, the Oilers can remain composed knowing they have been the better team for the majority of this series thus far. Now they are in the driver’s seat being back home with a chance to take a 2-1 series lead and potentially even a commanding 3-1 series lead. Given the scar tissue the Oilers have grown over the last few postseasons, they don’t want to get ahead of themselves. But their drive to win may only be reinforced by their desire to win this series efficiently.
Over in the Eastern Conference Final, it’s looking like the Panthers may wrap things up quickly and without much push back. The Oilers, if they were to advance for a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final, would already have their work cut out for them playing the Panthers. It would be made even more difficult if the Florida had extra rest because they took care of business quicker than Edmonton. The Oilers have won 9 out of their last 11 games including 4 out of their last 5 at home. They have been the better team in this series, have a chip on their shoulder, have home-ice advantage, and incentive to wrap this series up as quickly as possible. Look for Edmonton’s best effort to win convincingly in Game 3.
Zach Hyman anytime goalscorer (+230)
It is both somewhat surprising but also encouraging for the Oilers that they have reached this point in the playoffs without much production from Zach Hyman. There is good reason to believe that won’t last forever, though. Hyman is just one season removed from scoring 54 goals, which was one season removed from scoring 36 goals. This year, his 27 goals may have been a step back on the stat sheet, but it is still a productive year. It also made for his 6th season in his last 7 which he tallied more than 20 goals. The only exception was the Covid-shortened 2020-21 season.
This isn’t to just wax poetic about Zach Hyman. It is to illustrate how productive of a player he is. It is not just in the regular season, either. Since joining Edmonton, his postseason playoff performances before this year consisted of 11 goals and 16 points in 16 games played, followed by 3 goals and 11 points in 12 games played, followed by a playoff leading 16 goals and 22 points in 25 games played last year. That’s an 82-game average of 46.4 goals and 75.8 points. Mix in a +17 rating over that span, too. This postseason, Hyman has just 3 goals and 8 points in 13 games played. But he plays with Connor McDavid, is on Edmonton’s top line, logs important power play minutes, and is a historically very productive player. Getting +245 for Hyman to tally a goal in a home matchup is nice value both individually and parlayed.
