Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers face a must-win situation in Game 6 against the Vancouver Canucks tonight. Game 6 of Oilers vs Canucks Round 2 goes tonight at Rogers Place (8 pm ET, ESPN), with Edmonton favored to force Game 7.
The Oilers, who have fallen behind 3-2 in the series, will turn back to Stuart Skinner between the pipes after going with backup Calvin Pickard in the previous two games. We ve factored the goalie change into our Oilers vs Canucks Game 6 prediction tonight.
Here is a breakdown of our Oilers-Canucks picks, along with odds and player prop predictions.
Canucks vs Oilers Prediction Game 6
The major thing to note before making a Canucks vs Oilers prediction is that the Oilers will turn back to Stuart Skinner in goal after going with Calvin Pickard the previous two games. Skinner started the first three games of the series but struggled, giving up 12 goals on 58 shots for a .793 save percentage.
This is truly a gamble from Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, as Pickard has arguably looked like the better netminder against the Canucks. However, Skinner played well with a .910 save percentage against the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1 and set a career-high with 36 wins during the regular season.
Skinner starts Game 6 🥅
Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers)
Game 5 was easily Vancouver s best performance of the 2024 playoffs. They outshot the Oilers 35-23 and controlled 63.3% of the expected goals compared to Edmonton s 36.73% expected goals share. The question now becomes whether or not the Oilers can bounce back to force Game 7.
The Canucks have won four of their last five games against the Oilers in Edmonton, which makes them an intriguing road underdog in the Saturday . However, no team has won back-to-back games in this series, and the Oilers won t go down without a fight.
As much as we are tempted to play Vancouver as underdogs here, this has all the makings of a seven-game series. In the three games prior to Game 4, the Oilers had outshot the Canucks by a 106-58 margin. We expect the Oilers, led by McDavid and Draisaitl, to get back to their offensive ways and force a Game 7 with a convincing victory tonight.
VAN-EDM Prediction:
Oilers Three-Way Line (-125)
Canucks vs Oilers Odds
