Seattle Kraken @ Edmonton Oilers - March 22, 2025

As we gear up for the showdown between the Seattle Kraken and Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place, there’s a palpable buzz surrounding this matchup. The stakes are high with divisional bragging rights on the line, and both teams have shown varying levels of form leading into this encounter.

The Oilers, who are favored by oddsmakers, bring an impressive offensive game to the rink. Averaging 3.25 goals per game with a solid shooting percentage of 10.3%, they know how to find the back of the net efficiently. Their offensive zone time is notable too; they spend over 55% of their play in that crucial area, creating chances aplenty. However, recent performances have raised eyebrows—particularly their last outing against Winnipeg where they fell short at home despite high expectations.

From my coaching days, I can attest that momentum plays an undeniable role in performance—a lesson learned from countless playoff battles and key regular-season games alike. Edmonton must shake off that loss quickly and come out firing if they want to establish themselves firmly in this contest.

On the other side of the ice, we have Seattle—a team struggling to find consistency in their game lately. With only 2.97 goals per game and a lower shooting percentage than their opponents at 11%, it’s clear they’ve faced challenges putting pucks past goalies regularly. Their defensive metrics indicate they’ve been slightly more porous than desired as well, with save percentages trailing just below Edmonton’s—88.8% versus 89.4%. This has led to missed opportunities when trying to steal games on the road.

Looking at special teams’ contributions could be pivotal here too—the Oilers boast a respectable power play percentage of 25.3%, whereas Seattle lags behind significantly with an 18.6% success rate on theirs. In tight matches like these where every goal matters immensely, capitalizing on power-play chances can be a game-changer.

However, historical trends suggest this may not be as straightforward as it seems for Edmonton given their shaky ATS record recently (6-13). Seattle’s ability to cover spreads has shown signs of improvement despite some unfortunate results; covering against stronger opponents could just hinge upon whether they can tighten up defensively while finding ways to capitalize offensively.

My prediction? While I see Edmonton coming away with a win—likely thanks to their firepower—I expect Seattle will manage to cover the spread given their resilience and underdog status going into this match-up; especially considering how hungry they’ll be after facing defeat against Minnesota just prior.

Additionally, I lean towards taking the total UNDER based on both teams’ recent scoring outputs combined with what we’ve seen defensively from them; each squad appearing somewhat tentative early in contests adds weight behind this pick.

Ultimately though: It’ll all come down to execution come Saturday night! A tense atmosphere awaits as both clubs vie for those coveted divisional points!