It’s here. It’s finally here. The season is back. It’s time for some NHL daily predictions.
| Maple Leafs vs Jets ML -105 / -115 O/U 5.5 |
| Blues vs Penguins ML +165 / -190 O/U 5.5 |
| Flames vs Oilers ML +135 / -155 O/U 5.5 |
| Flyers vs Sharks ML +130 / -150 O/U 5.5 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
Maple Leafs vs Jets: What a way to open the season. Auston Matthews vs Patrik Laine? Oh yeah.
Matthews and Laine, for those who are new to the NHL, went first and second overall respectively in last year’s NHL Entry Draft. Both went on to have incredible rookie seasons, with Matthews taking home the Calder Trophy for best rookie. Laine finished as the runner-up.
Matthews netted 40 goals and finished with 69 points. Laine potted 36 and 64 points. Matthews’ Leafs surprised the Eastern Conference by not only making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but also pushing the President’s Trophy-winning Capitals to six games. Laine’s Jets languished in mediocrity, though their young talent has given them cause for optimism.
Both teams are in their own right looking to establish themselves as legitimate contenders. Couple that with the inherent rivalry between Canadian teams and the individual rivalry between Matthews and Laine and you have one heck of an opening game.
Who else should be on the radar other than the two stars? For Winnipeg, you’ll want to keep an eye on Mark Scheifele. Scheifele has been steadily increasing his production over the last four years, and was a contender for the Art Ross Trophy for most of last season. He finished with 32 goals and 50 assists. He’ll be centering Mathieu Perrault and Blake Wheeler tonight.
Also worth noting is the play of newly acquired goaltender Steve Mason. The Jets were horrible in the netminding department last season, and have bid farewell to Ondrej Pavelec now that his albatross of a contract is over with. Mason last played for the Flyers. Though his last season in Philadelphia was miserable, all other optics show him to be a perfectly fine starting goaltender.
On the Toronto side, free-agent splash Patrick Marleau will be making his first appearance in something other than San Jose Sharks teal tonight. Marleau will skate on the third line with Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov. Not only is he one of the most consistent goal scorers of the last 20 years in the NHL, but he provides the kind of veteran guidance that a young team like the Leafs needs.
You can’t say he “knows what it takes to win a Cup” because, well, he was on the San Jose Sharks. But he could teach younger players tricks of the trade to make them better.
Frederik Andersen will patrol the crease for the Maple Leafs. Andersen had an up-and-down season in net, winning 33 games but allowing 2.67 goals-per-game. Coming back fully healthy and more acclimated to the Toronto defensive scheme will help out.
Prediction: Take the Jets to win their home opener. The line is not kind to the Leafs to bet on the upset. Play the over.
Flames vs Oilers: Oh, Laine-Matthews wasn’t a good enough opening day draw for you? Well you’re in luck. Because as soon as that game ends, you get Gaudreau-Monahan vs McDavid-Draisaitl.
Sounds like a WWE tag team matchup.
The Calgary Flames clinched the top Wild Card spot last season, but were unceremoniously swept at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. They looked unable to score, defensively porous, but not without character.
To address some of their scoring woes, they signed the Ageless Wonder Jaromir Jagr. When Jagr will make his Flames debut is up in the air, but the Calgary lines seem to indicate it will not be tonight.
When Jagr does eventually play, he will likely bump Troy Brouwer, who was positively dreadful last season, to the fourth line.
https://twitter.com/BarSouthNCelly/status/914989602020225026
But to the players that will actually be suiting up tonight. This will be the true beginning of the Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl era in Edmonton. Oh, last season was just a warmup act. Edmonton advanced to the second round of the postseason but were ousted by a more experienced Anaheim Ducks team.
But now that McDavid and Draisaitl have fatter wallets and long-term extensions with the club, reality has set in. These guys are set to dominate the Pacific Division for years to come.
McDavid was the lone player to crack 100 points last season. Draisaitl had 77.
Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan are the direct answer to the copper-and-blue’s dynamic duo. Gaudreau led the team with 61 points while Monahan scored a team-high 27 goals. They will be slotted alongside Micheal Ferland, 25-year-old who tallied a career-high 25 points last year.
Calgary was also involved in the goaltender carousel this offseason. Steve Mason signed from Philadelphia to Winnipeg, the Flyers replaced him with Brian Elliott, who departed the Calgary Flames. The Flames then traded for Arizona all-star (by process of elimination) Mike Smith.
It’s been a while since Smith had a good year. Chalk it up to being stuck behind a terrible team, chalk it up to age, or maybe he’s just not very good. But the last time he so much as surpassed the league average was 2011-2012, when the then-Phoenix Coyotes made the Western Conference Final.
Smith will need to find his former glory. A road game against McDavid and company is a rough introduction.
Prediction: Take the Oilers to win. Play the over.
Blues vs Penguins: It’s an odd happenstance in the NHL that banner-raising ceremonies seem to be a kiss of death for that night’s game. The team with the pre-game ceremony almost always seems to come out flat and lose.
Luckily for the Penguins, they open against a Blues team that is depleted due to injury, experienced hefty roster turnover, and is a non-conference opponent playing on the road.
The Blues will be fighting to make the playoffs this season. Drawing the Penguins on opening night could be a blessing. A strong start following the ceremony could take the air out of the building, and non-conference games are never as physical.
Had they ventured to Pittsburgh in, say, December, it would be a much tougher game. But a new year means the Pens no longer have a dominant home record. They are merely 0-0-0.
That could work to St. Louis’ advantage.
Plus, the Blues have won four of their last five in Pittsburgh and four of their last five against Metro Division opponents. I like taking a chance on them tonight.
Prediction: Take the Blues to spoil the Pens’ opening night party. Play the under.
Flyers vs Sharks: Starting the year in California is never fun.
Not because of some kind of talent disparity, but because now Flyer fans who have waited six months for hockey to return have to stay up until 10:45 pm Eastern Standard Time just to see a moment of opening night. The game is listed to start at 10:30, but come on. It’s NBC Sports doing the telecast. They’re gonna draw that bad boy out as looooong as possible.
Even worse for Philly fans is that the Flyers never do well in San Jose. They are 1-9-1 in their last 11 at the Shark Tank. Yikes. They are 2-8 in their last 10 overall against the Sharks.
This is the first San Jose opening night without Patrick Marleau on the roster in 20 years. There are college students who are going to tune in tonight to a whole new world. A world without Patrick Marleau.
They’ve had all summer to prepare for this, but it’s still weird. Especially when he’s still playing.
Brian Elliott admitted that when he made the transition from St. Louis to Calgary, it took him weeks, even months, to re-acclimate himself to the defensive tendencies of the team. As such, his play suffered. Now, Ells is on a brand new team with a young defensive core. His best defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere is questionable for tonight after a head injury in the pre-season.
This could be a rough opener for Philly.
Prediction: Take the Sharks to win. Play the under.
