There are three games tonight with a chance at some upsets on the road. Let’s take a look at our NHL Daily Predictions.
| Bruins vs Golden Knights ML -141 / +120 O/U 5.5 |
Sabres vs Ducks ML +140 / -150 O/U 5.5 |
| Islanders vs Kings ML +125 / -145 O/U 5.5 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
The Game to Watch: Bruins vs Golden Knights.
Am I reading this right? The Boston Bruins are on the road, on the tail end of a back-to-back, playing the Vegas Golden Knights who have only one bad game under their belt this season, and Boston is still the heavy favorite?
Has the world gone mad?
Not really. It’s just the oddsmakers betting on Vegas regressing to the mean.
See, no one expected the Vegas Golden Knights to come out of the gate as strongly as they did. They became the first expansion team to ever start their season 3-0. Even on Friday, they took a 3-2 lead into the third period before allowing four unanswered goals in the final frame to suffer their first loss of the season.
Are the Golden Knights good enough to stay at the top of the Pacific Division? No. And odds are that they will be selling off some of their best players sooner rather than later. But that doesn’t mean fans shouldn’t enjoy the ride while it lasts.
And you should too as a bettor.
James Neal netted his sixth goal of the season Friday night, pulling into a tie with Brandon Saad for second in the NHL. Neal has been unreal. He is the Real Deal. And not the Big Deal that Pierre McGuire seems to think he is called. Neal is one of the players that will most definitely be shopped by George McPhee, and given the hot streak he is on, could be moved before the end of the calendar year before he starts to come back down to earth.
UPDATED JAMES POWER RANKINGS
1. James Neal
2. LeBron James
3. Rick James(before you @ us how many goals lebron gone scored this year?)
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 14, 2017
All the same, there’s always a slim chance that he gets traded, finishes the year on another team, then comes back and signs with Vegas in the offseason as an unrestricted free agent if he really hits it off there. His friend and former Penguins teammate Marc-Andre Fleury could lure him back.
Neal is the only player to ever score in his first four games for an expansion franchise.
Unfortunately Neal has not been able to singlehandedly fix the Golden Knights’ powerplay, which has started the season 1-for-17. Neal does have the lone goal on the man advantage, but it remains a problem. Call it growing pains of a new team. Not to mention this team does not have a true powerplay quarterback. This is an expansion team we are dealing with here.
But speaking of Marc-Andre Fleury, he has started the year very well. He will likely get his fifth nod in net for Vegas tonight. He has a .925 save percentage to start the year. His first move as a player has gone well so far.
Boston has stumbled a bit out of the gate, but picked up their first road win last night against the Arizona Coyotes. After getting blown out in the Pepsi Center last week against the Avalanche (that’s both games down the drain against Colorado this season), The Bs got six different goal scorers to contribute to the cause. Anton Khudobin got the win in net, meaning Tuukka Rask will be in goal tonight.
This is the first ever matchup between Vegas and an Original Six franchise. Worlds are colliding.
And so long as the Golden Knights are hot, I like them as the home underdogs. Especially with the Bruins not having any rest on a travel day.
Prediction: Take the Golden Knights to win. Play the over.
UPDATE: Marc-Andre Fleury and Jonathan Marchessault have been added to the Injured Reserve as of this morning. Malcolm Subban will likely start for the Knights. So…that changes things significantly.
The Bruins are going to give the Golden Knights a hard time. Subban is a former Bruin himself and struggled mightily. Sticking with Vegas to win is perfectly fine, but it will certainly be a much tougher game than expected.
Other NHL Daily Predictions
Sabres vs Ducks: I try not to overreact to the first handful of games of the regular season. Teams that start off hot may eventually sink to the basement of the league, and teams that struggle will eventually find their footing.
That said, the Buffalo Sabres look like they are in for a rough season.
The Sabres are now 0-4-1, with a weak offense and overmatched defense. They have a handful of players giving them all of their scoring, but very little depth. Jack Eichel and Evander Kane both have seven points. Jason Pominville has six. They have a whole lot of nothing coming from the rest of their lineup.
Kyle Okposo had four very poor games in the Sabres lineup then sat out last night’s game against the Kings due to illness. He is doubtful for tonight’s game.
The Anaheim Ducks are facing problems of their own, having been bitten by the injury bug early. Offseason acquisition Ryan Miller is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, and battery mate John Gibson is questionable for tonight with the same nondescript condition.
Ryan Getzlaf is questionable with a lower-body injury. He sat out Friday night against the Avs.
Ondrej Kase has been on injured reserve with a head injury and likely will not be activated tonight. Ryan Kesler is out until December.
Defensemen Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm are out until November.
So the Ducks are running on fumes a bit. They are 2-2-1 and this is their last game before a nice four-day break.
Now would be a good time for the Sabres to steal their first win. They won’t get a more battered opponent than this. If they can’t win tonight…well, then strap in for a long year, Sabres fans.
Prediction: Take a chance on the Sabres tonight. Play the under.
Islanders vs Kings: The New York Islanders are catching the Los Angeles Kings at an opportune time. The Kings are 1-6 in their last seven games on no days’ rest dating back to last season and are 1-11 in their last 12 Sunday games.
On the other hand, the home team has won the last four meetings between these two teams and the Kings have beaten the Islanders six of their last times in the Staples Center.
The Kings have yet to lose in regulation. Their lone loss was a 4-3 overtime defeat to the Calgary Flames.
Brooklyn has had a cluttered early schedule with their second back-to-back ending tonight and a lot of travel. Though they are 2-2-1, their caliber of play fluctuates from night to night. Though they picked up a 3-1 win over San Jose last night, it was by virtue of Thomas Greiss standing on his head. He made 40 saves on the night as the Isles were outshot 41-23.
It’s not that they were awful last night. They were merely slow to start and took their foot off the gas at the end. They had several high danger chances in the middle period, which was a good sign.
John Tavares has two goals and an assist to start the year. He will come around, fantasy owners. For as long as he isn’t scoring, though, fans and media alike will speculate whether or not his contract negotiations are a distraction. For a frame of reference, Henrik Lundqvist struggled in his contract year with the Rangers and admitted it hung over his head a bit.
Steven Stamkos’ performance didn’t suffer very much, but Stammer-geddon was a year-long panic attack for pretty much everyone else involved.
Josh Ho-Sang is proving to be a very savvy pickup for any fantasy league. The youngster has four assists in four games for the Isles. He has not scored a goal yet, but he is making things happen on the ice.
Prediction: Take the Isles to win. Play the under.
