With six games around the NHL tonight, let’s have a look at the best plays and predictions of the night.
| Bruins vs Sabres ML -130 / +110 O/U 5 |
Blackhawks vs Maple Leafs ML -130 / +110 O/U 5.5 |
| Canucks vs Hurricanes ML +121 / 134 O/U 5 |
Penguins vs Lightning ML +120 / -133 O/U 5 |
| Jets vs Wild ML +165/ -190 O/U 5 |
Stars vs Ducks ML -103 / -107 O/U 5.5 |
Play of the Day: Penguins over Lightning.
The Penguins are another one of those teams that are fading fast in the playoff picture and need every win they can possibly get. The Hurricanes have slipped into a tie for the wild card spot after an assertive win over the Blues last night. The Flyers are picking up steam. The Devils are starting to falter with injury and suspension troubles. And that’s not even factoring in Wild Card opponents from the Atlantic like Boston, Ottawa and their opponent tonight, Tampa. Every game matters.
Pittsburgh is 3-1 in their most recent games against teams that are not the Chicago Blackhawks. The troubling thing is that Pittsburgh has been spinning their wheels since Mike Sullivan was promoted to head coach and they are in the “try anything and hope it works” phase. For instance: Patric Hornqvist is apparently a left winger now despite never having played the position. Hornqvist has played better in his last few games, but Sullivan is trying to come up with new ways to get Hornqvist and winger David Perron on a better scoring pace.
Hornqvist is currently on track for 36 points this season, a career low. Perron is set to get 32 this season, his lowest in a full year since his rookie season in St. Louis. Perron was recently shifted up to play right wing for Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz.
The Lightning are coming in hot. They have won four of their last five and are fresh off a dominant 4-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Ondrej Palat had himself a three-point night and Steven Stamkos struck twice. They are returning to form, and the thought of them perhaps getting another weapon for Jonathan Drouin is scary. Note: that trade is rumored to go down today.
The Penguins may give off the air of desperation but they have always had Tampa’s number. They are 11-1 in their last 12 against the Bolts. And their offense could very well begin to click. Evgeni Malkin has nine points in his last seven games, and Crosby has logged six multi-point games in his last 11 played. It seems that +120 is harsh for a team of this skill level.
The one loss for Pittsburgh: Nick Bonino will miss at least a month to injury. Bonino has 10 points in his first season as a Penguin.
Prediction: Take Pittsburgh in an offensive slugfest. The over/under is 5. Go with the over.
The Game to Watch: Stars vs Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks will be looking for their first consecutive win since the turn of the calendar year. After an incredibly slow start to the year it would appear as though they are making strides to improve. They are at the very least getting more chances on net than before. They have been on the winning side of the possession battle in 17 of their last 19 games. They are 10-6-3 in that stretch, which means a couple of things:
1) Teams generally get more shots when they are trailing.
2) They have had some extraordinarily bad luck with shooting percentages. I say luck because a player does not simply go from shooting 13% to 3% once he turns 30 as Ryan Getzlaf has. The fact that he has 23 assists means if he were even shooting his career average of 12%, he’d have about 10 goals on the year.
It’s ironic because Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry has always been the dynamic duo people talk about in the Western Conference, up with the Sedin twins and Kane-Toews. But on the other end of the ice is the best duo in all of hockey, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Crazy to think that this game 365 days ago would be viewed entirely different.
Prediction: The Stars have had since Saturday to regroup after losing four of five. Take them for the under.
Other Game Notes Around the NHL
Canucks vs Hurricanes: Both teams are playing the tail end of a back-to-back tonight, and in completely different spirits. Vancouver is on their second of a six-game road trip after being stymied by the President’s Trophy leaders in Washington. Carolina is riding a three-goal third period from a good win over the Blues. They have now won three games in a row and remain a quietly pesky team. The league probably did not see them coming. With a win to make it five in a row tonight, the Canes could finally start to get some attention.
Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist against St. Louis. Carolina makes the most of their chances, as Skinner, Victor Rask and Jordan Staal are all shooting over 12%. Leading scorer Justin Faulk is shooting 10.7%.
Prediction: Why not see what the Canes can do? Let it ride on the hot team at -134 on the under.
Bruins vs Sabres: The Sabres ended a six-game losing streak by taking games on the road against the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets. On paper? Very good wins. In reality? More indicative of the play of two teams hiccuping to start the new year. The Wild and Jets are very volatile in performance.
Although, that may be just what Buffalo has against Boston tonight.
The Bruins blew a third period lead late in the third against the Flyers on Wednesday Night Rivalry. They will be wrapping up a five-game road trip, on which they have gone 1-3. They are 1-5 total since the New Year.
That can mostly be chalked up to injury. I’ve talked it to death, but there’s no getting around the absence of David Krecji. Their style of play completely changes. Loui Eriksson and Jimmy Hayes have done an admirable job of trying to step up, but it’s just not the same.
For the Sabres, Ryan O’Reilly carries a four-game point streak into the game tonight. It will also be the much-anticipated return of Robin Lehner to the crease for Buffalo, as he has been out since the season opener with an ankle sprain.
Prediction: The Sabres can and will pull the upset tonight. Take the under.
Blackhawks vs Maple Leafs: Ho hum. Another day another Blackhawks win. Their victory over the Canadiens in the Bell Centre was one of the tougher games of the streak for Corey Crawford, who stopped 36 of 37 shots.
Scott Darling will get the nod in net tonight on the second leg of a back-to-back for Chicago. He will be facing James “Please God Get Me Goal Support” Reimer, the man with all the important numbers on his side except for wins. Hard to believe he’ll have it any easier tonight.
Prediction: Chicago with the over.
Jets vs Wild: The Wild have lost two clunkers in a row against the Devils and Sabres, both by just one goal. The Jets finally broke a three-game losing streak against Nashville, but did everything they could to blow a 4-1 lead. A three-goal Predators rally in the third nearly cost Winnipeg the win.
Prediction: At least the Jets have shown some sign of life recently. The pulse is flatlining in Minnesota. Take Winnipeg for the under.
