It is said that familiarity breeds contempt, which is perhaps why hockey fans love it when divisional rivals end up getting put together in the playoffs. You often get hostilities spilling over from games played during the regular season, which can often mean that the bad blood in a playoff series boils a little hotter than it would against a non-divisional foe. We have a couple of divisional series in the opening round, with the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers being just one of them. The Pacific Division foes will be starting their opening round playoff series in Edmonton on Wednesday night, and if the regular season match-up between these two is anything to go by, this is one that might well go the full 7 games. It was the Oilers who won the best of 5 regular season series by 3 games to 2, but all 5 games were close, proving that these two teams are very well matched. This series should be tight from start to finish, and a little bit of luck may be what separates them in the end. Find the updated NHL betting picks here.
