{"id":434967,"date":"2023-12-08T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=434967"},"modified":"2023-12-15T10:42:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T15:42:28","slug":"nhl-predictions-dec-8-wild-vs-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/12\/08\/nhl-predictions-dec-8-wild-vs-oilers\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Dec. 8 w\/ Minnesota Wild vs Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another day of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head and other factors that may play in. We also have a featured game of the day, which is considered must-watch TV. Today\u2019s featured game is the Minnesota Wild<\/a> vs Edmonton Oilers.<\/a> Be sure to check out more NHL predictions in the coming days.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

St Louis Blues vs Columbus Blue Jackets<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Blues 0-0 Blue Jackets<\/h4>\n

TV: <\/strong>Bally Sports Ohio; Bally Sports Midwest<\/p>\n

Our opening game of NHL predictions is the Eiffel 65 special between the St Louis Blues<\/a> and the Columbus Blue Jackets.<\/a> The Blues did split a home-and-home series with the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights<\/a>. Jordan Binnington<\/a> is slated to get the start in goal for the Blues. However, always check social media<\/a> before locking in a fantasy starter in goal. The Blues are only a point off the last post-season spot in the muddled Western Conference. Jake Neighbours<\/a> and Robert Thomas<\/a> are both off to solid starts for the Blues.<\/p>\n

Columbus will try to stop its losing streak with projected starter Spencer Martin<\/a>. The Blue Jackets have dropped the last three games and four of their last five games. Columbus is 30th in goals allowed, but is surprisingly a good penalty killing team. This could mean problems for St Louis and its second-to-last rated power play. Boone Jenner<\/a> has 13 goals for the Jackets while Zach Werenski<\/a> has bounced back with 19 assists.<\/p>\n

Columbus will be the one that’s feeling blue after this one. St Louis is just a bit further along.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Blues win 4-2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Minnesota Wild vs Edmonton Oilers<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Wild 1-0 Oilers<\/h4>\n

TV:<\/strong> Bally Sports North; Bally Sports Wisconsin; Sportsnet West<\/p>\n

Our final and featured game of NHL predictions has the Wild trying to stop a six-game losing streak. Marc-Andre Fleury<\/a> is the confirmed starter in goal for the Wild. Joel Eriksson Ek<\/a><\/span> (12 goals) and Mats Zuccarello<\/a> (21 assists) have been two of the few bright spots for Minnesota this season. This season has already resulted in Dean Evason<\/a> getting fired<\/a> behind the bench and replaced by John Hynes. Goals have been hard to come by this season for Minnesota.<\/p>\n

The Oilers have been flying high with five straight victories. Connor McDavid<\/a> is starting to play like the reining Hart Trophy winner with 19 points in the last seven games. Zach Hyman<\/a> recorded a hat trick last time out and leads the team with 15 goals this campaign. Edmonton will likely go with Stuart Skinner<\/a> in between the pipes. The Oilers may be awake and ready to make a run for a post-season in the Western Conference. All phases of the game look like they’re coming together.<\/p>\n

These two teams are trending in opposite directions. Fleury gives the Wild a shot to make it a game. However, the Oilers are finding their footing under new coach Kris Knoblauch.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Oilers win 5-2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bet of the Night<\/h3>\n

Let’s stay with our last game of the evening for the prop bet of the night. Edmonton’s power play unit faces the 31st-rated penalty kill in Minnesota tonight. One player that’s ready to break out is Leon Draisaitl<\/a>. The German has a nasty shot, but can also make some deft passes on the extra-man unit. We like Draisaitl getting the over on 0.5 power play points tonight for the Oilers. Playmakers like Evan Bouchard<\/a> and McDavid make this unit dangerous and their current winning run makes them even more troublesome for the Wild.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Brad Rempel – USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another day of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head and other factors that may play in. We also have a featured game of the day, which is considered must-watch TV. Today\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":434969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4524,23,4547,30,4548],"tags":[6083,6017,6012,6061],"class_list":["post-434967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-oilers","category-hockey","category-wild","category-nhl","tag-columbus-blue-jackets-predictions","tag-edmonton-oilers-predictions","tag-minnesota-wild-predictions","tag-st-louis-blues-predictions"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}