I got a fever, and the only prescription is more hockey. That and a pantload of Tylenol and Zpacks, which I am also on. Just giving y’all an unwelcome glimpse into my life as I sweat through my fourth shirt of the day. Anywho, here are the top picks, plays and predictions for tonight:
| Devils vs Bruins ML +137 / -151 O/U 5 |
Ducks vs Flyers ML +104 / -115 O/U 5 |
| Sharks vs Penguins ML -120 / +109 O/U 5.5 |
Coyotes vs Canadiens ML +171 / -190 O/U 5.5 |
| Avalanche vs Lightning ML +162 / -180 O/U 5.5 |
Capitals vs Panthers ML -120 / +109 O/U 5 |
| Maple Leafs vs Wild ML +166 / -185 O/U 5.5 |
Kings vs Stars ML +129 / -143 O/U 5.5 |
| Hurricanes vs Flames ML +127 / -140 O/U 5.5 |
Blues vs Oilers ML -110 / -100 O/U 5.5 |
| Sabres vs Canucks ML +118 / -130 O/U 5.5 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
Play of the Day: The under in Devils vs Bruins.
Snow is white, the sky is blue, and the Devils are still a stone-cold under pick. The wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’.
New Jersey picked up their first win of the season on Tuesday in their home opener against the Anaheim Ducks. All three of their games have totaled out at five goals or fewer. Taylor Hall scored twice to propel the team to victory. Cory Schneider stopped 23 of 24 shots.
Boston, meanwhile, has experienced much more volatile scores. Their opening game was a high-octane shootout with Columbus. They then found themselves on opposite ends of a 4-1 score in their succeeding two games.
Brad Marchand was labeled by Barry Melrose last night on SportsCenter as “the top offensive player in the league right now.” That is bold, given we are just three games in, but Melrose is drawing on Marchand’s success from the World Cup of Hockey into this regular season. Marchand clicked with Sidney Crosby, because I’m pretty sure a cadaver could pot a few goals with Sidney Crosby on his line. Even without Patrice Bergeron, Marchand has tallied seven points in this young season.
Bergeron should be back in the Bruins’ lineup tonight, which is bad news for New Jersey. Adam McQuaid has also returned to practice.
Prediction: Take the Bruins to win. Play the under.
The Game to Watch: Sharks vs Penguins.
The Sharks make their first visit back to Pittsburgh since last June. In Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Sharks managed to force a Game 6 with a 4-2 win. We all know what happened after that.
The Sharks come in as favorites in this game despite being in the midst of a challenging tour of the east coast. Pittsburgh could very well be without two of their more important players tonight. Sidney Crosby remains out with a concussion, though both Conor Sheary and Kris Letang left last game with injuries. Letang’s injury has been listed as “upper-body,” while Sheary is sporting a bruise around his right eye. He and Brent Burns can bond.
Pittsburgh managed to draw eight- count them, eight- powerplay opportunities against the Montreal Canadiens. They converted zero times, and were held off the scoresheet entirely. That is brutal. Not only that, they managed only three shots on goal in those eight powerplay chances. Three! How is that even possible by the law of averages?
All the same, missing Letang is a huge blow to the Penguins. Home ice helps, but the Sharks are just as good on the road this year as they were last. They are 3-1 to start the year, with all three wins decided by one goal. Their loss, to the Rangers, was still not a poorly played game despite five goals sneaking past Martin Jones.
Prediction: Take the Sharks to win. Play the under.
Other Game Notes Around the NHL
Coyotes vs Canadiens: Carey Price is back! After nearly a full calendar year of waiting, Carey Price will take the ice at the Bell Centre in a Habs uniform.
Opposite Price? Louis Domingue, sporting a 9.99 goals against average and a .727 save percentage. Nowhere to go but up.
Montreal has started 2-0-1, their most recent victory being the aforementioned shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Al Montoya was more than serviceable in Price’s stead, and the offense picked up the slack. The Habs scored 11 goals in their first three games. Five skaters have three points or more.
Arizona topped Philadelphia in overtime in their first game of the season before getting trounced by the Senators on the road. Domingue allowed three goals on 11 shots in just 11 minutes of ice time in Ottawa.
Prediction: The return of Carey Price should make for an electric atmosphere in Montreal tonight. Take the Habs to win. Play the over.
Avalanche vs Lightning: Alex Killorn is off to the best start of his career, with a goal in each of his first three games. His hot start has helped fuel a perfect 3-0 record for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tonight is the final leg of a four-game homestand.
Colorado suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday at the hands of the Washington Capitals.
https://twitter.com/CauseItsTheCup/status/788543670664302593
It didn’t go well.
The line is once again slanted dramatically against the Colorado Avalanche. Again I reiterate that this trend will not continue for long, but it is more than warranted for this particular week.
Prediction: Take the Bolts to win. Play the under.
Blues vs Oilers: The Blues are only marginally favored in this game, which says a lot about how much Edmonton has impressed this year.
St. Louis finally lost their first game in overtime against the Vancouver Canucks, and if you were smart, you would have cashed in on that as our play of the day earlier this week. Blues forward Nail Yakupov will be making his return to Edmonton after four long years as an Oiler. The 23-year-old was often the center of attention in the media for an alleged lackadaisical attitude, though he seems to have found himself at least a little bit in St. Louis.
Though Edmonton’s offense has looked good, they will get their first real test tonight. Their first three opponents- Calgary, Buffalo and Carolina- are hardly league powerhouses. This will be their first chance to take on one of the best teams in the west.
My guess is that it will be a reality check a bit.
Prediction: Take the Blues to win. Play the over.
Capitals vs Panthers: I’ll take this one as a runner-up for the game to watch tonight. This could very well be the Eastern Conference Finals come May, mark my words. Washington, as mentioned above, crushed the Avalanche on Tuesday. Alex Ovechkin found the back of the net for the first time this season in that game. His line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie has had some difficulty finishing off their scoring chances. Chalk it up to early season rust. Or blame the World Cup of Hockey. That thing was dumb.
The scary part is that Washington’s top line is still producing. Oshie has two goals, Ovi a goal and an assist, Kuznetsov an assist. They just get held to a higher standard. The elite standard. And right now, they’re being overshadowed by the team’s second line of Marcus Johansson, Nick Backstrom and Andre Burakovsky.
Florida and Washington have gone past regulation in half of their last six meetings. Florida’s special teams will prove to be the X-factor- while they have not allowed a powerplay goal in seven tries, they haven’t scored one themselves in eight.
Prediction: Take the Caps to win. Play the under. This will be a fun goalie battle to watch.
