Welcome back, friends. Who’s ready for some NHL predictions?
Last night, hockey returned. And it was glorious. Auston Matthews exploded onto the scene with four goals in his debut. The Edmonton Oilers put a touchdown on the board against the Flames. The reigning Western Conference Champs prevailed over the rival Kings thanks to a third period goal from Brent Burns.
It’s back.
Here are the top picks, plays and predictions for today, Day 2 of the NHL 2016-2017 season:
| Bruins vs Blue Jackets ML +116 / -128 O/U 5.5 |
Canadiens vs Sabres ML -128 / +116 O/U 5.5 |
| Islanders vs Rangers ML +121 / -134 O/U 5.5 |
Red Wings vs Lightning ML +152 / -168 O/U 5 |
| Devils vs Panthers ML +139 / -154 O/U 5 |
Wild vs Blues ML +103 / -114 O/U 5 |
| Hurricanes vs Jets ML +110 / -121 O/U 5 |
Capitals vs Penguins ML -101 / -109 O/U 5 |
| Ducks vs Stars ML +111 / -123 O/U 5 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
Play of the Day: Islanders over Rangers.
The Islanders and Rangers underwent some cosmetic surgery in the offseason on their forward lines. The cavalcade of new faces makes this one a must-watch for those in the New York area, and a good indicator of things to come for both sides.
The Isles parted ways with Kyle Okposo and Matt Martin, replacing them with Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera. Both Ladd and Chimera have been slotted in on the wings with John Tavares on the top line. Teenager Anthony Beauvillier is set to make his Isles debut tonight.
The Rangers dealt away fan-favorite Derick Brassard for the younger, cheaper Mika Zibanejad. Highly touted prospect Pavel Buchnevich, as well as prized college free agent Jimmy Vesey, will be making their NHL debuts tonight. Brandon Pirri and Michael Grabner will also make their first appearances in a blue sweater tonight, with Grabner being no stranger to the Isles organization.
For historical context, the last time the Rangers and Islanders faced off this early in the season was October 14th, 2014. The Islanders put six goals past Henrik Lundqvist en route to a 6-3 victory at the Garden.
The man who should be most excited for tonight’s game is John Tavares. The Rangers parted ways with Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle, who contributed over 70 points from the blueline last year combined. Having replaced these two with Nick Holden and Adam Clendening, the Blueshirts’ already weak defensive core has only gotten weaker, older and slower.
The Isles’ top line could jump down the Rangers’ throat tonight.
Prediction: Take the Islanders to win at +121. Play the over.
The Game to Watch: Capitals vs Penguins.
In a similar theme as last night, tonight features a handful of playoff rematches. Here, the top two teams from the Metro Division last year are set to collide.
The big difference? Pittsburgh will be without Sidney Crosby.
Crosby was diagnosed with a concussion just a few days ago and they seem to be dealing with him on a game-to-game basis. This is not the Pens’ captain’s first concussion, which is cause for some concern, though the team seems to be downplaying its severity. Crosby has been practicing with the team and skating on his own.
In the interim, Garrett Wilson will be in the Penguins’ lineup, skating on the top line with Chris Kunitz and Evgeni Malkin. The famed HBK line of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel will serve as the second line, though it received top-line duties in the postseason last year. Patric Hornqvist has been slated on the third line with Matt Cullen and Conor Sheary.
These are two teams that are similar to last year in terms of roster composition. That should scare the Eastern Conference. The Capitals have had a few changes in their bottom six, but the top is still young and hungry.
Marc-Andre Fleury will be in net for the Penguins. Any semblance of goalie controversy was left by the wayside when Matt Murray broke his hand at the World Cup of Hockey. Braden Holtby will be in net for the Caps, naturally.
The banner-raising ceremony alone is reason enough to tune into this one. Come for the celebration, stay for the bitter rivalry.
Prediction: The home team never wins banner-raising ceremonies. Take the Caps to win. Play the under.
Other Notes Around the NHL
Bruins vs Blue Jackets: Oddsmakers really don’t like the Boston Bruins this year. Even EA Sports doesn’t like the Bruins, predicting they will finish dead-last in the Atlantic Division at 84 points. And now they’re already being touted as the underdogs against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who managed a meager 76 points last season?
Well, being without Patrice Bergeron, Adam McQuaid and Kevan Miller will skew the line a bit.
Obviously Bergeron is the biggest loss here for the Bs. Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Sidney Crosby were embarrassingly good at the World Cup of Hockey as the top line for Team Canada. In his stead, David Backes will slide up to the top line alongside Marchand and David Pastrnak.
Maybe a healthy Sergei Bobrovsky will change things for Columbus. Maybe another year of development and physical maturation will help Seth Jones take the next step up as a young stalwart on defense. Maybe Sam Gagner will find himself again after a down year in Philadelphia last season. All these things could prove true, but I still don’t see Columbus as a serious threat in the Metro Division this year.
That doesn’t mean that they can’t win one game, though. And one game against a Bergeron-less Bruins is a winnable game, indeed.
Prediction: Take the Jackets to win. Play the under.
Canadiens vs Sabres: Buffalo suffered a devastating blow before the season even began yesterday. Jack Eichel has been ruled out for 4-6 weeks after spraining his ankle in practice. Eichel, still just 19-years old, tallied 24 goals and 32 assists as a rookie in Buffalo. With all the young talent flooding into the league, it won’t be long before Eichel is on the league’s Mount Rushmore alongside Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews. Being without him for the first month of the season will put a serious damper on things in Buffalo.
Not that the Sabres were going to magically leap into contention this year after finishing with just 81 points last year, but mid-80s was certainly not out of the question. This hurts, big time.
On the visiting side, this will be Shea Weber’s initiation into Habs’ hockey lore. Montreal fans seem ready to embrace Weber, one of the league’s premier offensive-defensemen, though bitter at how he was acquired. The former Predator was infamously traded for P.K. Subban one-for-one in one of, if not the most fascinating deals of the offseason.
Alexander Radulov also returns to the NHL tonight. The irony of bringing in Radulov while ushering out Subban and his “”””character issues”””” is so thick and beautiful.
Carey Price has the flu, so his long-anticipated return to Canadiens hockey has been delayed. Veteran Al Montoya will patrol the crease tonight.
Prediction: Take the Habs to spoil the Sabres’ home opener. Play the under.
Red Wings vs Lightning: Another playoff rematch tonight. Petr Mrazek will square off against Ben Bishop tonight. This is the matchup we should have seen the entire opening round last year and not Jimmy Howard, but I digress. The Lightning are another Eastern Conference powerhouse that did not do much to overhaul their team in the offseason.
Content with their second consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, they instead focused their efforts on re-signing their young talent. Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Andrei Vasilevsky, Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos all received brand-new multi-year contracts this offseason.
Steve Yzerman was a busy man, and his team is significantly better because of it.
The Red Wings will be putting their two big-name free agent acquisitions to the test tonight. Frans Nielsen, the former Islander, will be on the top line tonight, while former Wild (what is the proper term for someone who played for the Wild? Wildian? Wildan? Someone help me out here) Thomas Vanek will skate on the third line.
The Lightning are the heavy favorites tonight, and it’s no secret why. They are the heavy favorites coming out of the Atlantic Division this year. After narrowly sneaking into the postseason on the last day of the year last season, Detroit’s playoff streak could very well be in jeopardy.
Nik Kronwall will sit out tonight, starting the year on the injured reserve.
Prediction: Though Tampa got off to a very slow start last season, that is no reason to bet against them tonight. Take the Bolts to win. Play the over.
Devils vs Panthers: The only move that came remotely close to rivaling the Weber-Subban trade in terms of weirdness was the Taylor Hall-Adam Larsson one-for-one trade that occurred that very same afternoon.
In essence, the Devils stole one of the most talented young forwards in the NHL for a middle-of-the-road defenseman.
Maybe that’s a bit hard on Larsson, but really, it doesn’t matter. Hall for Subban would have been understandable. Hall for Larsson and a pantload of picks would have been passable. Hall for Larsson one-for-one? That gets laughed at by the NHL 17 AI.
So to the delight of Jerseyans, Hall will make his regular season debut with the Devils tonight. Hall looked sharp in the preseason, impressing with his speed and ability to create something from nothing in the offensive zone. He will be on the top line alongside Mike Cammalleri and Devonte Smith-Pelly. DSP is hardly a top-line player in terms of skill, though he experienced statistical success in that role in the latter half of last season. The Devils, being a heavily system-oriented team, breed success from role guys. Lee Stempniak comes to mind. One could make the argument Kyle Palmieri flourished under that same principle, though he is certainly more talented than most “role players.”
The Panthers have Aaron Ekblad after a concussion scare in the World Cup of Hockey. He will be on the top pairing along with Keith Yandle, signed after a trade from the Rangers. Yandle is an awesome offensive player who will fit in beautifully on a young, exciting Panthers team. Give him the minutes he deserves and he will excel. He is going from the third pair to the top pair, and even on the third pair he managed 47 points. He’s a stud.
Prediction: I do like the Devils quite a bit heading into this season, but I will take the Cats to win their home opener. Play the under.
Wild vs Blues: With the departure of Brian Elliott in the offseason, it is now abundantly clear: these are Jake Allen’s Blues. Allen earned his first victory of the season last night against the rival Blackhawks, as St. Louis topped Chicago 5-2 on Wednesday Night Rivalry. It will be tough starting the year on a back-to-back, but at least it is marginally better to have back-to-backs now as opposed to, say, February.
Allen will be in net tonight for the Blues against Devan Dubnyk, most likely.
With all the change in player personnel throughout the league this offseason, the most notable coaching change was Bruce Boudreau, moving from Anaheim to Minnesota. After yet another premature exit from the postseason, Boudreau will be taking on a brand-new team of highly-paid big name stars notable for their premature postseason exits.
It’s a match made in heaven.
Certain Wild players played markedly better after the departure of Mike Yeo last season, most notably Jason Pominville and Charlie Coyle. However, that did not equate to more success in the win column, and the Wild were bounced after six games against the Dallas Stars in the opening round.
Boudreau’s regular season coaching is superb. His special teams units are almost always at the top of the league. Last season, the Ducks were tops in both penalty killing and powerplay percentage. Where he falls short is in-game adjustments, as indicated by several former players, most notably Ryan Kesler this summer.
Prediction: The Blues were impressive last night, and their top six looks lethal. A back-to-back shouldn’t impact them too drastically this early on. Take St. Louis to win. Play the over.
