If waking up at the crack of dawn to watch the Giants take on the Rams in London is not your thing, then we have some late-afternoon hockey for you. Here are the top picks, plays and predictions.
| Oilers vs Jets ML +104 / -115 O/U 5.5 |
Wild vs Islanders ML +122 / -135 O/U 5 |
| Coyotes vs Rangers ML +162 / -180 O/U 5.5 |
Canucks vs Ducks ML +175 / -195 O/U 5 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
Play of the Day: Wild over Islanders.
Minnesota’s three-game win streak came to an end last night in overtime against the New Jersey Devils. Taylor Hall buried a point-black shot during 3-on-3 to hand the Wild a 2-1 loss. Joel Eriksson Ek potted his first NHL goal after a terrific effort in the neutral zone. Eriksson Ek threw a body check along his own bench, then managed to get his stick on the ground to push the puck to Jason Zucker. Zucker’s shot bounced off Cory Schneider, and the 19-year-old put the rebound home.
Ultimately the Wild played fine, but they fell victim to Devils hockey- low-danger, low-scoring, boring hockey.
They will be playing a tough mid-afternoon back-to-back today against the New York Islanders, who have been up-and-down to start the year. Their last game came Thursday, with a win over the Arizona Coyotes. Their victory was spurred on by a shorthanded goal by Johnny Boychuk.
The Wild have the tougher task at hand, playing their second game in 24 hours. But they have started their season surprisingly well at 3-1-1, and could very well bounce back after a frustrating loss last night. Darcy Kuemper will likely get the start in net against Jaroslav Halak.
The road team is 5-2 in the last seven meetings between these two teams. Though Minnesota has had a rough go of it against Metropolitan Division opponents, that trend could easily break today.
Prediction: Take the Wild to win. Play the under.
The Game to Watch: Oilers vs Jets.
Today is the Heritage Classic between the Oilers and Jets, as they will be playing outdoors in Investors Group Field, on the campus of the University of Manitoba. The alumni game yesterday was dominated by Teemu Selanne, who scored on two penalty shots. The fact that he got two penalty shots in an alumni game is pretty funny.
The Finnish Flash has still got it.
This is the Oilers’ first foray outside of Alberta, as they have had four home games and a trip to Calgary to start their season. They have started their season 4-1, and Connor McDavid has started his season with eight points. Ho hum, more points for McDavid.
Winnipeg is 2-2 to start the year. Second-overall pick in this year’s draft Patrik Laine’s hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs (and first-overall pick Auston Matthews) has given him the team lead in goals with four.
Cam Talbot will start in goal for Edmonton against Connor Hellebuyck. Though Talbot was on the bench for the Rangers’ Yankee Stadium games in 2014, he did not see any action. For many of these players, this will be their first Outdoor game. Milan Lucic is the only player I can think of that has seen outdoor action on either side.
It should be a fun environment, but my money is on the red-hot Oilers.
Prediction: Take Edmonton to win the Heritage Classic. Play the under, which is always the safe bet outdoors.
Other Game Notes Around the NHL
Coyotes vs Rangers: The Rangers put together a nice come-from-behind victory against the rival Capitals last night. Jimmy Vesey netted two goals and played a brilliant game. Though New York was entirely in their own zone for the third period, their play with the puck was conservative enough to stave off the Caps’ attack.
Antti Raanta will be in net for the Blueshirts. The real test, though, will be for the Rangers’ defensemen. Ryan McDonagh played 25 minutes last night and was taxed heavily.
Arizona is halfway through a six-game road trip. They dropped both legs of a back-to-back earlier this week against the Candiens and the Islanders, and were beaten badly in their road opener in Ottawa. They did not have much distance to cover from last game to this game, which will hopefully provide them with a little spark.
The Coyotes are not particularly intimidating, but the Rangers’ exhaustion may be too much to bear. Arizona being 0-3 on the road is hard to bet on though.
Prediction: Tentatively take the Rangers to win. Play the over.
