| Capitals vs Rangers | Islanders vs Flyers | Hurricanes vs Columbus |
| ML -111 / +101 | ML -109 / -101 | ML +112 / -124 |
| O/U 5 | O/U 5.5 | O/U 5.5 |
| Penguins vs Canadiens | Maple Leafs vs Sharks | Bruins vs Senators |
| ML +103 / -114 | ML +125/ -148 | ML OFF/ OFF |
| O/U 5 | O/U 5.5 | O/U OFF |
| Wild vs Stars | Predators vs Coyotes | Lightning vs Canucks |
| ML +136 / -150 | ML OFF / OFF | ML OFF / OFF |
| O/U 5.5 | O/U OFF | O/U OFF |
| Blues vs Kings | ||
| ML +153 / -170 | ||
| O/U 5 |
Play of the Day: Maple Leafs over Sharks.
Betting against the Sharks at home is pretty fun. Especially when the Sharks are 5-15 when favored this season. Add a 5-12 home record and a +125/-148 line and the Leafs start to look like a good gamble.
History is not on the Leafs’ side. The Sharks are 10-1 against the Leafs dating back to 2008. Their one meeting this season was a 5-4 overtime win for San Jose.
A change in leadership has helped the Leafs though. Under Mike Babcock, the Leafs are 5-2-1 against the Western Conference of late. Their tour of California this past week has resulted in a split of two games with a 4-1 victory over Anaheim and 2-1 loss to the Kings.
Jonathan Bernier will be the starter against Martin Jones, per LeftWingLock. Despite underwhelming numbers, Bernier is 6-2 in his last eight starts while facing an average of almost 31 shots. Excluding an outlier poor performance against the Islanders, he has a 1.57 goals against average over that stretch.
Jones is 2-4 lately with a 3.17 goals against average. Surprise surprise, three of those losses were on home ice.
Prediction: Toronto for the under 5.5.
The Game to Watch: Rangers vs Capitals.
Rangers-Capitals is always one to circle on the calendar. No matter how well the Caps seem to be playing, along come the Rangers to spoil their fun. The Rangers were their only regulation loss last winter during a 14-1-4 run.
Though they have split their first two games of the season, Washington dominated play. Shot attempts were 62-33 in their first meeting favoring the Caps. The scoreboard favored the Rangers, though. Their second game saw Washington come roaring back from a 3-1 deficit to score six unanswered.
The Rangers have struggled to get pucks to the net all season, even during their nine-game win streak that now seems like ages ago. Their success was predictably unsustainable given their utter inability to control pace of play and exit their zone. After a horrendous December, they have finally been righting the ship somewhat possession-wise, with an impressive win over Dallas on Tuesday.
The Rangers were playing a Stars team at the end of a demoralizing East coast road trip. Dallas surrendered 15 goals in three games. They must now go up against the hottest goaltender in the National Hockey League. Braden Holtby is 18-0-2 in his last 20 starts. He leads the league in wins with 26 and is towards the top in most every other important category.
The bottom line is stringing together multiple successful games in a row has been a major struggle for the Rangers lately. They are 0-6 following a win recently. They also are 2-8 against teams who allow 2 goals or fewer in their previous game. In other words, they haven’t been a “stopper” of good play lately.
Chris Kreider is still day-to-day with a laceration on his hand. Marcus Johansson will be out for the Caps serving a suspension. MoJo had been playing well for Washington, but they have plenty other weapons.
Prediction: An over/under of 5 makes this extremely appealing. Take Washington for the over.
Other Game Notes Around the NHL
Isles vs Flyers: The Flyers will be without rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere which certainly hurts their offensive attack. Ghostbear’s presence has made a huge impact on their goal-scoring efficiency. With him the Flyers are 12-7-3 averaging 2.64 goals per game. Without him, they are 5-8 averaging just 1.8.
Fortunately for Philly, they will be starting a three game homestand against an Islanders squad that is even more banged up. Johnny Boychuk and Travis Hamonic remain out of the lineup. Travis Hickey has been ruled out after experiencing headaches following a hit from Marcus Johansson last game. Kyle Okposo will be playing with an illness, as he sat out of practice Friday.
The Flyers will be getting help from Michael Del Zotto (two goals last game), who is one of many orange-and-black defensemen feeling liberated possession-wise by Luke Schenn’s departure. Captain Claude Giroux also has 40 points in 35 career games against the Islanders.
Prediction: Take Philly at -101/-109 for the under.
Blues vs Kings: The Blues came oh-so-close to snapping a six-year, nine-game drought in Anaheim. Now, they head to Los Angeles where they haven’t won in 11 games.
The Kings are 6-1 in their last seven. The Blues will be without Jayden Schwartz until early February. It’s the tail end of a back-to-back for St. Louis, which the Blues are 1-4 at in their last five. In that stretch, the under is 4-0-1.
The point is this will not be a fun one for St. Louis.
Prediction:Take the Kings for the over 5.
Hurricanes vs Blue Jackets: This is another very appealing play. This is the tail end of a home-and-home for these two teams. Carolina decisively won the first game 4-1. Now Seth Jones will come home to Columbus for the first time.
Believe it or not, the Canes are really good at back-to-backs- 4-0 recently. The Jackets are 3-7 in their last 10 back-to-backs. So, with a line of +112/-124 and a very generous over/under of 5.5, this is another less-risky Play of the Day candidate.
Prediction: Take Carolina for the under.
Wild vs Stars: Dallas is getting back on the right track after a 2-1 shootout victory over the Jets. The Wild are heading the wrong direction after an overtime loss at home to the Flyers. Road games are not Minny’s strong suit with a 7-6-5 record.
Prediction: Expect Dallas to take this one with an over 5.5.
Penguins vs Canadiens: The Pens are fresh off having their lunch handed to them by Artemi Panarin and the Blackhawks twice. They head into Montreal, where Evgeni Malkin has had plenty of good fortune. Malkin has 2 goals and 6 assists in his last five at the Bell Centre, points in all five. Kris Letang is also heating up, with 3 goals and an assist over a four-game point streak.
The Habs have had a similar disease as the Rangers- inability to win consecutive games following an incredible start. They’re 3-2 in their last 5, 3-8 in their last 11. With an eight-game road trip in the middle of that stretch, Winter Classic included, perhaps just what the Habs need is another game at home to get them going again.
Prediction: Play the Habs with an over.
Bruins vs Senators: The Bruins gave the Devils a wake up call last night at the Prudential Center. They’ll be getting Brad Marchand back from suspension now, and they’ll need him.
Prediction: B’s are 12-3-1 in the second half of a back-to-back, so that really doesn’t shake them. Give them a play with an under.
Predators vs Coyotes: It was encouraging that Ryan Johansen scored in his Preds debut, but he still looked like he could use some settling. A back-to-back is not a lot of time to settle. Even though the Preds are 6-0 against the Coyotes in their last six meetings, they come into the game cold, tired and with a bad road record.
Prediction: Take the Coyotes with an under.
Lightning vs Canucks: Those Western Canada back-to-backs always seem to kill East coast teams. The Lightning had to wait until the very last moment to get to the Oilers last game, coming back from down 2-0 in the third period. They may not have the same luck tonight against a Vancouver team that likes to defend home ice against the Eastern Conference.
Prediction: Vancouver with a stone-cold under.
