Around the NHL: Predictions for February 10th

There are only two games on the docket tonight. Let’s take a look at the top picks, plays and predictions.

Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.

Lightning vs Wild: The Tampa Bay Lightning may win the award for most disappointing team in the NHL this season. With dreams of the Stanley Cup this past summer, especially after retaining most of their young talent during the offseason including Steven Stamkos, they now find themselves tied for last in the Eastern Conference.

Really think about that. This team was in the Eastern Conference Final last season and the Stanley Cup Final the year before that. They managed to avoid Stammergeddon and retain guys like Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn for pretty fair prices.

It’s stunning to consider how much has gone wrong this season.

Despite all that, they are still within reach of the playoffs. The Bolts are just six points behind the Boston Bruins for the second Wild Card spot with two games in hand. They have won consecutive games, their most recent being a 5-0 shutout of the Los Angeles Kings.

It’s a devil of a task they have to perform tonight, however. One of the worst road teams in the NHL is now going to have to beat the Minnesota Wild in the State of Hockey. The Wild are in hot pursuit of the Washington Capitals for the President’s Trophy. I don’t know what it is, but Bruce Boudreau has the regular season magic touch. Minnesota is 17-6-1 at home this season, though their most recent game was an overtime loss to the Blackhawks on Wednesday Night Rivalry.

Jason Pominville is going to be a good player to watch in this one. Pominville is having a nice bounce-back season after a disappointing campaign in 2015-2016. He is already five points away from surpassing last season’s total and is riding a three-game point streak. On Tuesday, he earned himself a four-point night against the Winnipeg Jets.

And of course, there’s Devan Dubnyk. Dubnyk is going for win #30 this season. What a career turnaround he’s had.

Prediction: Take the Wild to win tonight. Play the over.

Blackhawks vs Jets: The Winnipeg Jets are George Costanza when he does not have his glasses. One night they’re spotting dimes across the room, the next they’re mistaking onions for apples.

One week they’re on a roll, besting the Blackhawks, Blues and Stars all in a row on the road. The next, they’re getting beaten by the Colorado Avalanche and continually trotting out Ondrej Pavelec despite his consistently allowing three or more goals per game.

Pavelec suffered a lower-body injury in his last start, which may actually be a blessing in disguise. Now they have an excuse not to play him.

Though Winnipeg has had a nice run of success against the Central Division- Chicago included, as they have won their last four against the Hawks- they will need a better defensive effort tonight if they want to win.

They will be trying to change their fortunes with Connor Hellebuyck in goal tonight. Hellebuyck stopped 38 of 41 shots to beat the Blackhawks in his last start, but had been pulled less than a period into his two starts prior. Consistency is the name of the game, and the Jets simply do not have it. The only constant, amazingly, is that Hellebuyck beats the Blackhawks. He has been in net for all four victories over Chicago this season.

The over has hit in five of the last six home games for Winnipeg. It is 6-1 in Chicago’s last seven overall. Chicago has also won five of their last six road games. Expect a lot of goals to go around tonight.

Chicago has been held to five goals in four games this season against the Jets. To have the season series swept away from them would be catastrophic. The Hawks are still vying for the top spot in the Central and cannot be dropping winnable games to division opponents.

Winnipeg is just .500 at home this season. I simply do not see a series sweep in the cards tonight.

Prediction: Take the Blackhawks to win tonight. Play the over.

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