Welcome to December. Here are the top picks, plays and predictions for tonight’s NHL games.
| Stars vs Penguins ML +160 / -180 O/U 5.5 |
Islanders vs Capitals ML +205 / -245 O/U 5 |
| Hurricanes vs Bruins ML +150 / -170 O/U 5 |
Rangers vs Sabres ML -135 / +115 O/U 5 |
| Flyers vs Senators ML -115 / -105 O/U 5.5 |
Panthers vs Red Wings ML -125 / +105 O/U 5 |
| Lightning vs Blues ML +110 / -135 O/U 5 |
Oilers vs Jets ML +100 / -125 O/U 5.5 |
| Devils vs Blackhawks ML +135 / -155 O/U 5 |
Kings vs Coyotes ML -154 / +135 O/U 5 |
| Blue Jackets vs Avalanche ML -135 / +115 O/U 5 |
Ducks vs Canucks ML -155 / +135 O/U 5 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
Play of the Day: Sabres over Rangers.
Jack Eichel is back, and boy have we missed him. Eichel started his sophomore season with a bang, earning a primary assist with a beautiful cross-ice pass to Kyle Okposo. Just three minutes later, Eichel blasted home a one-timer on the powerplay to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead. Buffalo would go on to beat the Senators in Ottawa that night, 5-4.
Eichel’s presence is a major lift for the Sabres, obviously. He slots in on the second line with Evander Kane and Sam Reinhart, and as evidenced already, he fits in just fine back on the top unit on the man advantage.
Buffalo’s offense exploded with the arrival of Eichel, and that should surprise no one. The Sabres are last in the league in goals-per-game going up against the highest scoring team in the NHL. They need Eichel to be the beast that he is, and if anyone can resurrect the Buffalo offense, it’s him.
The Rangers, though they are still tops in the league in per-game scoring, are among the worst in the league in shot generation since the start of November. The only teams that have been worse than them in that regard are the Arizona Coyotes and the New York Islanders.
On Tuesday, the Blueshirts narrowly escaped with a 3-2 victory against Carolina after having to come from behind down 2-0. At home. Managing just 21 shots on goal.
Don’t get me wrong, losing Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich hurts their generation of quality chances, but this problem starts in their own zone. Other than Ryan McDonagh, the ability of the New York defensemen to move the puck, or even just move east-to-west in the attacking zone, is horrible. Losing Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle and replacing them with Nick Holden, while refusing to play Adam Clendening, has *gasp* caused problems!
The Rangers have won their last five trips to Buffalo, and have won 13 of the last 16 meetings overall. But they are trending downward. The Sabres are riding that sweet Eichel momentum for his first home game of the season.
Prediction: Take the Sabres to win. Play the under.
The Game to Watch: Panthers vs Red Wings.
Well, the coaching change did not have the immediate spark that the Panthers were hoping for. Florida lost their first game without Gerard Gallant 2-1 in the shootout against the Chicago Blackhawks, though they managed 39 shots on goal in the process. Now, they must continue their road trip and venture into Hockeytown against Atlantic Division foes, Detroit.
The Wings have had their fare share of ups and downs, but have at least been able to come out victorious against teams like them with a losing record. They are 5-1 against sub-.500 teams. They are 3-0-1 in their last four overall.
Florida and Detroit are on equal footing in the standings, both with 11-10-2 records. Eyeballing the standings, they look to be pretty far down in the Wild Card hunt. That’s only because there are six teams within a point of each other.
So this is a big game.
Given New Jersey has a tough matchup against Chicago today (more on that later), it’s entirely possible that the winner of this game is propelled into the second Wild Card spot. And that’s huge.
Florida has won six of their last seven games in the Motor City. Petr Mrazek will be in net tonight, as Jimmy Howard is still sidelined with a groin injury.
Jaromir Jagr will have sole possession of fourth place on the all-time games played list after tonight. So that’s something.
Prediction: Take Detroit to win. Play the under.
Other Game Notes Around the NHL
Devils vs Blackhawks: Bryan Little, Jack Eichel, now Taylor Hall. Hall is the latest in game-changers returning to the lineup after an injury. The Devils’ winger tore his meniscus back on November 16th, and after missing eight games following his surgery, says he feels ready to go.
Beau Bennett hit the injured reserve after suffering a laceration on his right leg Monday. Hockey gods giveth and taketh. No slight intended, but the arrival of Hall far outweighs the absence of Bennett.
New Jersey will need all the help they can get taking on the Blackhawks in the United Center. The Hawks are 9-1-2 at home, while the Devils are just 3-7-3 on the road.
Chicago is banged up as well. Jonathan Toews will be out of the lineup tonight, set to return on Saturday. Artem Anisimov looked to be in a lot of pain blocking a shot on Tuesday, though there has been no word that he won’t play in tonight’s matchup.
A note: in Bennett’s absence, the Devils have recalled John Quenneville from Albany. As in, Joel Quenneville’s cousin. Second cousin, to be specific. That’s pretty cool.
Prediction: The Hawks have held their own just fine without Toews. Take Chicago to win. Play the under.
Stars vs Penguins: Pittsburgh is right back at it tonight after a disheartening loss to the Islanders last night. The Pens trailed 3-0, fought all the way back to tie it in the third period, only to lose on a deflection goal with less than 30 seconds on the clock.
Though it is a bummer, the Penguins usually rebound pretty well. They are 7-0 in games after they surrender five or more the previous contest. Plus, Pittsburgh will be back on their home ice, where they are 8-2-1 this season.
Dallas only managed to collect one of a possible four points in a back-to-back earlier this week against St. Louis and Detroit. The pair of losses brings them to 9-9-6 on the year, with a 3-6-4 record on the road. Despite the fact that they have won their last four meetings with the Penguins, they come into Pittsburgh stumbling.
The Stars have lost their last four games as the visitor.
Prediction: Take the Pens to win tonight. Play the over, which is 5-0 in the last five games for Pittsburgh.
Islanders vs Capitals: Speaking of the Islanders, they managed to squeak out a victory after jumping out to that aforementioned 3-0 lead on the Pens last night. Once again, Jack Capuano dodges the bullet. How much longer can he keep dodging it? Not long is my guess.
The Isles are 1-6-1 on the road. The Caps are 8-3-0 at home. Brooklyn has lost four of their last five games on the tail end of a back-to-back. Do the math.
No matter how frail the Islanders seem, they always seem to play a low-scoring game against the Caps. The under is the wise play in this one.
Prediction: Take Washington to win. Play the under.
Oilers vs Jets: Winnipeg seems confident that they can change their fortunes against Edmonton. Their first meeting did not go so well, as Cam Talbot pitched a 31-save shutout in the Heritage Classic outdoor game. However, Bryan Little and Jacob Trouba will be in the lineup this time around for Winnipeg, and it’s looking like Matthieu Perrault will be back after missing 14 games as well.
The Jets have outscored opponents 20-6 in their last five home games to boot.
Talbot’s hot streak came to a harsh end against the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday night. He allowed four goals on 14 shots and viewed the third period from the bench. Despite that, Talbot has looked sharp, as he had a .942 save percentage in his five games leading up to Tuesday’s loss.
Prediction: Take the Jets to win. Play the over. This could be a fun scoring match.
Lightning vs Blues: You wanna talk hot goaltenders though? Jake Allen. Allen is 8-0-2 on home ice this season with a 1.57 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. The Blues are 10-1-2 in St. Louis this season.
Tampa is going through a bit of a rough patch, as their powerplay is cooling off a bit and Ben Bishop continues to bleed goals at an uncharacteristically high rate.
Part of that may be Anton Stralman, who has missed the last nine games. The Swedish God of Corsi is hopeful that he will be in the lineup tonight, and Jon Cooper seems to think he’s up to task.
The Bolts have missed him. They’ve allowed 14 goals in their last three games, with a 5-4 record in that stretch. They have lost their last three in a row, two of them to the Blue Jackets.
Prediction: Tough call, great matchup. Take the Blues to win. Play the over.
To put in these plays, or to place any other NHL bets, check out the Diamond Sports Book Lines at https://www.betdsi.eu/gms-hockey.
