Around the NHL: Predictions for December 16th

Happy Friday, everyone. A quick moment of congratulations to me, who made it through finals week without committing hara-kiri. You go, me. Anyway, here are the top picks, plays and predictions.

Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.

Play of the Day: Islanders over Sabres.
Jean-Francois Berube will be making his first start of the season tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. Jack Capuano had indicated a few weeks back that he was going to look for games to put Berube in the lineup. And really, what better opponent than the Sabres? Cappy is taking a page out of the book of cross-town rival Alain Vigneault, who reserved starts against Buffalo for prospect Mackenzie Skapski.

Berube has the tough task of breaking the Isles’ road woes. The Isles have lost 10 of their last 12 games away from the Barclays Center. Their last trek outside of Brooklyn resulted in a 6-2 drumming at the hands of the Blue Jackets. Plus, they have lost 10 of their last 11 against Atlantic Division opponents.

Last night, an early 2-0 lead was squandered in an explosive first period against the Chicago Blackhawks. Despite early goals from Andrew Ladd and Casey Cizikas, the Hawks wound up winning 5-4 thanks to going 3-for-3 on the man advantage. Nine Islander forwards notched a point.

Brooklyn has a hard time bouncing back. They are winless in their last four after allowing five or more goals the previous game.

Buffalo is finally getting to the easy part of their December schedule. They have had a tough month, taking on the Rangers, Bruins, Capitals (twice), Oilers and Kings. They have come away from this with an admirable 3-2-1 record.

Prediction: Take the Islanders to win. Play the over.

The Game to Watch: Kings vs Penguins.
It would be easy to say that this game could easily be a preview of a potential Stanley Cup Final matchup. Any other year, that would be correct. But without Jonathan Quick, the Kings are clinging to a Wild Card spot by a point, and find themselves with inconsistent results day in and day out.

The Kings did rebound after a disappointing road loss to the Sabres last night with a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Jeff Zatkoff faced just 18 shots on goal in the win, with Tyler Toffoli recording two goals and an assist.

Pittsburgh topped the Boston Bruins on Wednesday Night Rivalry in overtime. Bryan Rust, playoff hero, batted a saucer pass from Evgeni Malkin past Tuukka Rask as he charged towards the net.

Look at that death glare from Tuukka. That’s one angry goalie. I want a “caption that” contest for this.

So the Pens have won seven straight, including winning their last four against teams with a winning record. Only the Canadiens and Blues have more points at home.

Matt Murray will go for win #13 tonight against Petr Budaj. The Kings took their meeting earlier this season and swept the season series last year.

Prediction: Take the Penguins to win tonight. Play the over.

Other Game Notes Around the NHL

Sharks vs Canadiens: San Jose has won three in a row now, including a road back-to-back in Toronto and Ottawa. Both games went to a shootout. Five of their six games this month have been decided by just one goal.

Montreal is looking to build on what is the best home record in the NHL. With 14 wins at the Bell Centre, they will be closing out a four-game homestand tonight after what has been an eventful week. After trouncing the Devils 5-2, they absolutely obliterated the cellar-dwelling Colorado Avalanche with a 10-1 win in Montreal. It was a nice change of pace after being run out of Columbus just last month.

Most recently, the Habs lost in overtime against the Bruins by a score of 2-1.

Paul Byron will be looking to continue a four-game point streak. Byron is already on track to have a career year, just four points off his best season total. Just one more goal would tie his best mark, set last year at 11. He will skate on the third line tonight with Brendan Gallagher and Torrey Mitchell.

The Sharks have taken seven of the last eight meetings and have been playing teams awfully tight lately. This game is a coin-flip. Why not take a chance on some cash?

Prediction: Take the Sharks to win. Play the under, which is 9-1-1 in the last 11 encounters in Montreal.

Panthers vs Avalanche: There really is not much to draw from the Avalanche’s season so far. I don’t really comment on their games much on here, because really, what is there to say? Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon are fun to watch, but beyond that, there really is nothing to this team.

I’m taking the Panthers tonight, not because they can win, but because they should win.

Colorado bleeds more goals than anyone else in the league. This is what should be a big confidence-builder tonight for the Panthers, who are still struggling to find their footing in the Atlantic this season.

Prediction: Take Florida to win tonight. Play the under.