The Edmonton Oilers play their second game in as many nights when they take on the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.
The pregame narrative: Edmonton continues an Eastern Conference road trip that started with a 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs last night. Montreal also played on Saturday and lost 5-4 in overtime to the New York Rangers.
Check out my Oilers vs. Canadiens picks for the Dec. 14 game, featuring Ivan Demidov.
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Oilers vs. Canadiens picks
Best Bet: Over 6.5 goals (-109)
This game has serious offensive potential. Both teams excel at scoring goals while being pretty bad at keeping them out.
Let's start with the Oilers. They score the third most goals per game (3.41) to go with a blistering 31.3% power play conversion rate.
They have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl ranked in the top five in the NHL for scoring. That provides an extremely good base for an electric offence that can go off any night.
The Oilers made a trade to acquire Tristan Jarry from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he played last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, leaving Calvin Pickard (.851 SV%) to guard the twine.
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Then there's Montreal with even bigger goalie problems. They allow the second-most goals per game (3.55) and are expected to start Jakub Dobes on Sunday.
The second-year goalie has allowed seven goals on 32 shots in his last two starts combined. That won't fly against the Oilers.
Montreal probably won't shut out Edmonton, but it can keep pace, and that should push this game over this total.
Key stat: The Habs rank in the top 10 in goals for (3.19/game), shooting percentage (12.7) and power play percentage (25.3).
Best NHL prop picks
Demidov to record 1+ points (-127): The 20-year-old is going under the radar, but he is having an elite rookie season.
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- He sits fourth on the Habs with 24 points in 31 games. That's a 64-point pace. For reference, Macklin Celebrini had 63 points as a rookie last year.
- Demidov was held without a point last night, but he scored a point in five straight games before that.
- Overall, he has at least a point in 11 of the last 13 games.
He's super efficient with his playing time. He averages less than 15 minutes on ice per game, but he plays on the top power play, where he has eight points this season.
In a game where I expect a lot of goals, Demidov has value to get his name on the score sheet.
Oilers vs. Canadiens picks made at 10:36 a.m. ET Dec. 14, 2025.
