{"id":463690,"date":"2025-03-04T08:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T13:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=463690"},"modified":"2025-03-04T08:52:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T13:52:02","slug":"nhl-predictions-march-4th-anaheim-ducks-vs-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/03\/04\/nhl-predictions-march-4th-anaheim-ducks-vs-edmonton-oilers\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: March 4th Anaheim Ducks vs Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another edition of NHL Predictions. Each day,\u00a0<\/span>Last Word on Hockey<\/span><\/em> reviews the scheduled games and offers insight and analysis to help predict who will win in head-to-head matchups. Today, we preview the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> vs Edmonton Oilers<\/a>. Check out more NHL Predictions\u00a0as the 2024-25 season continues.<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Anaheim Ducks vs Edmonton Oilers<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Head to Head: Ducks 1 – 1 Oilers<\/h4>\n

Time:<\/span><\/strong> 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/span><\/p>\n

TV:<\/span><\/strong> SN1; Victory+; ESPN+<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ducks (26-26-7) kick off a quick, two-game road trip to Western Canada against the Oilers (35-21-4) at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta o<\/span>n\u00a0March 4th<\/a>. This is the third of four meetings between the two Pacific Division opponents. So far, the home team has won on both occasions. Unsurprisingly, the NHL’s leading goal scorer<\/a> has scored in both games against the Ducks this year. The Ducks will try to slow down the dynamic duo of Connor McDavid<\/a> and Leon Draisaitl<\/a>. Emphasis on “slow down” because it is next to impossible to completely shut them both down. The key for Anaheim will be staying out of the box, which can be easier said than done when defending the quickest player maybe ever. The storyline here is one team looking to bounce back from a tough loss and sneak into the playoffs and another team looking to re-discover their game and build momentum for another deep playoff run.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anaheim Ducks Desperation Setting In<\/h4>\n

Talk about a letdown. After playing one of their best and most complete games of the season<\/a> against Vancouver, the Ducks laid an egg against the last-place team<\/a> in the league. Many will feel those are points the team absolutely needed as their chances of making the playoffs dropped from around 9% to 3%. The path does not get any easier as now the Ducks will need to recover against a Stanley Cup favourite.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Troy Terry<\/a> leads the team with six points in the previous five games and leads the team overall with 45 points this season. Maybe most notably, the loss to Chicago was the first regulation loss of the season when the Ducks score three or more goals. They are now 22-1-3 this season when hitting that mark. Over their previous 10 games, the Ducks are 6-3-1. On the bright side, the Ducks get Trevor Zegras<\/a> back. This will be his first game back from a three-game suspension<\/a>, where the Ducks went 1-2 without him. The Ducks will hope he can continue to be a spark offensively and a difference-maker in the win column. The Ducks are 17-13-4 with Zegras in the lineup<\/a> and 9-13-3 without him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who will start in net is a particularly interesting question for this game. John Gibson<\/a> returned from injury against Chicago but did not look great. With Edmonton being a potential, although unlikely, suitor for Gibson<\/a>, will the Ducks start him again in a sort of “showcase” ahead of the trade deadline? Or will the Ducks opt for their 1A goaltender, Lukas Dostal<\/a>, as desperation for standings points sets in? If it’s Gibson, he currently has a 2.80 goals against average and .911 save percentage this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Edmonton Oilers Looking to Enter Playoff Form<\/h4>\n

Edmonton is crawling out of the Four Nations tournament. They are 3-6-1 over their last 10 games, and their superstar knows they need to turn on their A-game soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

“I gotta find a way to get going here. Big emotional week, exciting week last week & back to reality pretty quick.”<\/p>\n

Connor McDavid<\/a> discusses where his game is at ahead of #Oilers<\/a> vs. Panthers tonight.@Enterprise<\/a> | #LetsGoOilers<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/T50fhjXYWO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unsurprisingly, the Oiler’s leading scorer over their previous five games is Draisatl with four goals and seven points. He also leads the league with 44 goals and is only one point behind Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> for the league lead in points (90).<\/p>\n

Anything short of perfection is usually cause for uproar in the Canadian hockey media, and Edmonton’s goaltending situation is not an exception. By all accounts, Stuart Skinner<\/a> and Calvin Pickard<\/a> are good enough goalies for Edmonton to win a Stanley Cup. They’re goaltending won’t be the main reason they win, but with the offensive power Edmonton has, this team can win it all. They were only one game and two goals away from it last year after all. That is why it is interesting that Gibson’s name is being linked to Edmonton. Many believe he is not a significant upgrade over their current situation, especially with Gibson’s health concerns. Anyways, expect Pickard to get the start in this one. He has a 2.61 goals against average and .901 save percentage.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/span><\/h3>\n

Last prediction could not have been more wrong, so like the Ducks, this will hopefully be a bounce-back prediction. It will come down to whether or not the Ducks can A) stay out of the box or B) play perfectly on the penalty kill. B is much less likely, so the Ducks will need to play the most disciplined game of the season to win. In the hostile Rogers Arena, that is unlikely. The Ducks are notorious for not making the obvious adjustments to systems and that bites them in this one. Draisatl scores the from bottom right circle in his signature off-hand side, and the Oilers roll. The score suggests the game was closer than it actually was.<\/p>\n

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

Prop Bets of the Night<\/span><\/h3>\n

We close out our NHL Prediction for the Anaheim Ducks vs Edmonton Oilers with some of our preferred prop bets of the night. Draisatl anytime goal is usually a great bet against the Ducks so -120 is not bad. Take a look at Zach Hyman<\/a> (+155) anytime goal as well. With Zegras coming back, someone who will benefit from that is Alex Killorn<\/a>. His anytime goal is\u00a0 +420.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Note: Always check the latest team news and player statuses before placing any bets, as injuries and other factors can influence game outcomes.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Perry Nelson- Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly. Check for your local rules and age restrictions. Some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Have a gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/span><\/em><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another edition of NHL Predictions. Each day,\u00a0Last Word on Hockey reviews the scheduled games and offers insight and analysis to help predict who will win in head-to-head matchups. Today, we preview the Anaheim Ducks vs Edmonton Oilers. Check out more NHL Predictions\u00a0as the 2024-25 season continues. NHL Predictions Anaheim Ducks vs Edmonton […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5399,"featured_media":463791,"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":[4524,20,23,4547,4548],"tags":[6013,1199,139,6017,123,193,1790,3806,714],"class_list":["post-463690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-ducks","category-oilers","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-anaheim-ducks-predictions","tag-calvin-pickard","tag-connor-mcdavid","tag-edmonton-oilers-predictions","tag-john-gibson","tag-leon-draisaitl","tag-stuart-skinner","tag-trevor-zegras","tag-zach-hyman"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463690","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\/5399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463690"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":463795,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463690\/revisions\/463795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}