The Rangers go for four in a row. Vegas shoots for their 10th win. Connor Hellebuyck tries to stay hot. Let’s take a look at our NHL Daily Predictions.
| Wild vs Bruins ML +110 / -130 O/U 5.5 |
Golden Knights vs Maple Leafs ML +190 / -240 O/U 6.5 |
| Blue Jackets vs Rangers ML -105 / -115 O/U 6 |
Coyotes vs Capitals ML +185 / -225 O/U 6 |
| Jets vs Stars ML +125 / -145 O/U 6 |
Red Wings vs Canucks ML +120 / -140 O/U 5 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
The Game to Watch: Blue Jackets vs Rangers.
Even when the New York Rangers are winning, they can’t help but make it an adventure.
When the Rangers beat the Vegas Golden Knights, they had to come back from down two in the third period in order to do it. To beat the Tampa Bay Lightning took extra time, but the team still allowed a shorthanded goal and looked silly doing it. The team then allowed a goal in the final two minutes of regulation to the Florida Panthers to send the game to overtime where Kevin Shattenkirk finished the job.
So the coach’s job is safe, for now. Alain Vigneault’s chair has gone from scalding hot to more tepid in temperature.
Columbus is coming off their own Floridian road trip as well, beating up on the Panthers but losing in a shootout to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Jackets and Rangers have already met earlier this season in Ohio. Artemi Panarin got the game winning goal early in the third period and Lukas Sedlak potted an empty-netter with six seconds remaining.
Columbus-New York is one of the more entertaining rivalries in the league. They have met five times in the year 2017, the road team has won four times, and at least one team had 30 shots in each game. It’s fast skating, high scoring, and the Jackets’ won’t have Cam Atkinson.
The Rangers are the team to go with tonight. The Jackets are still plenty tough, but Atkinson is a Ranger-killer.
Prediction: Take the Blueshirts to win. Play the over.
Other NHL Daily Predictions
Golden Knights vs Maple Leafs: We still are at the stage where every game the Vegas Golden Knights play is history. This is their first venture into the Six to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Golden Knights gave Maxime Lagace his first NHL victory Saturday with a 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Lagace will be in net once again for the Golden Knights as they still have three goaltenders on the mend.
Mark my words: I will never, ever condone betting on Vegas as long as they are trotting out a goaltender with an .858 save percentage. Lagace isn’t an NHL goaltender. Plain and simple. Unless the Golden Knights can come up with six goals tonight, they won’t be winning a thing.
Toronto has lost five of six. They are returning home after a week-long western road trip, and are trying to recapture the early-season success that they had.
Shooting on an AHL goaltender ought to help.
Prediction: Take the Maple Leafs to win. Play the over.
Jets vs Stars: Connor Hellebuyck is suddenly one of the best goaltenders in the National Hockey League.
The 24-year-old is 7-0-2 to start the year with a .932 save percentage and a 2.24 goals-against average. Though Saturday was his weakest performance to date, allowing five goals to the Montreal Canadiens and losing in overtime, he still has been a good backstop. Saturday was just the second game this season Hellebuyck allowed more than two goals in a game.
His success is somewhat inexplicable given the overall dumpster fire the Jets’ goaltending situation was last season. Even this year, Steve Mason has been horrific and missed his chance at the number-one job.
He will have to be at the top of his game against Ben Bishop and the Dallas Stars. Dallas is 5-1-0 on home ice this season, while Bishop is 4-0 with a 1.48 goals-against average in Texas.
Believe it or not, Winnipeg is not being led by Patrik Laine in the scoring department. Blake Wheeler leads the team with 17 points, while Nikolaj Ehlers currently has eight goals. Ehlers is in his third season at just 21-years-old. Last year he tallied 25 goals. This year looks to be even better.
Winnipeg’s offense and lockdown goaltending has propelled them to second in the Central Division.
The Jets have won the last five matchups against the Dallas Stars.
Prediction: Take the Jets to win. Play the under.
Coyotes vs Capitals: Well, at least the Coyotes finally got a win on home ice.
Now the next step is to get a win in regulation time. Doing so in Washington, D.C. is highly unlikely.
Let’s take the good with the bad. Antti Raanta is back between the pipes after dealing with a lower-body injury. His return against Buffalo went poorly, as the team’s defense let him down and he looked a bit rusty. Raanta let in five on 31 shots.
Against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, he looked like his old self, stopping 36 of 37 shots and two of three shootout attempts, carrying the Coyotes to a 2-1 win.
Clayton Keller is still firing on all cylinders offensively. He notched his 10th goal of the season Saturday. The 2016 seventh-overall pick has 16 points in 15 games and is shooting 17.9%.
Max Domi, owner of the Worst Haircut in the National Hockey League, is the only other Arizona player with double-digit points. He has one goal and nine assists. He just can’t buy a goal, as he is shooting just 2.3%.
The rest of the offense? Bone dry. Derek Stepan is without a point in his last six games. Nik Hjalmarsson had two assists against the Flyers but left the game early and has since been placed on injured reserve.
At least Jason Demers is scoring. Demers has five points in his last five games. He’s skating on the top pair alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Washington has won three of their last four, but they are just 2-3 at home this season. This should be a good opportunity to win big against the punching bag of the NHL.
Prediction: Take the Capitals to win. Play the under.
