The Rangers refuse to lose at home. The Sabres are super boring. Philly can’t hold onto a lead. Let’s take a look at tonight’s NHL daily predictions.
| Lightning vs Sabres ML -185 / +160 O/U 6 |
Canucks vs Islanders ML +148 / -170 O/U 5.5 |
| Panthers vs Rangers ML Off / Off O/U Off |
Sharks vs Flyers ML Off / Off O/U Off |
| Hurricanes vs Blue Jackets ML Off / Off O/U Off |
Kings vs Red Wings ML Off / Off O/U Off |
| Blackhawks vs Predators ML Off / Off O/U Off |
Maple Leafs vs Flames ML -105 / -115 O/U 6 |
| Coyotes vs Oilers ML +160 / -185 O/U 5.5 |
Stars vs Golden Knights ML -107 / -113 O/U 6 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
Panthers vs Rangers: Madison Square Garden continues to be a safe haven for the New York Rangers. The Blueshirts managed to squeak out a shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday afternoon despite their best efforts to choke it away.
New York trailed 2-0 in the second period, and were getting badly outskated. Careless decisions with the puck and lackluster passing meant there were little to no scoring chances through the first half of the game. The Canucks outshot the Rangers 11-4 in the opening frame. It was as bad a 20 minute stretch as the Rangers have had this season in terms of offensive generation.
Things started to turn around once Jesper Fast redirected a shot for his fourth goal of the season late in the second period (it would turn out to be one of his last shifts in the game, as head coach Alain Vigneault completely abandoned his fourth line when trailing in the final period).
Michael Grabner buried a sneaky wrister 19 seconds into the final frame, but Sam Gagner answered right back 41 seconds later. The Rangers did not quit, though, and Rick Nash fed Jimmy Vesey for the equalizer on a beauty of a play.
Any goal that gets Sam Rosen to shout “Oh, baby!” like John Davidson has got to be good.
https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/934891578119868416
Vancouver outclassed the Rangers in overtime but could not get the game-winner past Henrik Lundqvist. On the anniversary of the infamous Marek Malik 15-round shootout, the Rangers and Canucks went back and forth for seven rounds before Jimmy Vesey potted the winner.
And so the Rangers have now won eight straight home games.
Florida was in action last night, playing a tight one against the New Jersey Devils.
At the end of the day, I’ll take a hot home team over a team on a back-to-back any day.
Prediction: Take the Rangers to win. Play the under.
Other NHL Daily Predictions
Lightning vs Sabres: The Buffalo Sabres are bad. Just really, really bad.
Usually a home underdog is at least mildly enticing. Not the Sabres. They’ve lost four of their last five home games. They are winless in their last four against Atlantic Division rivals.
And the Bolts have won five in a row in Buffalo.
Boy, the Sabres are just…bad. And boring.
Evander Kane has been on a nice little hot streak lately, but the rest of the offense beyond the top line is just atrocious. Specifically, they are the worst in the league.
Prediction: Take the Lightning to win. Play the under. I don’t trust the Sabres to contribute anything towards the aggregate score.
Sharks vs Flyers: I took the Philadelphia Flyers to win last night.
They can’t lose every single game, I said. A game against the rival Penguins will keep the energy alive. They’ve been coming so close picking up so many loser points the last few games, surely they have to win sometime.
Well, about that.
The Philadelphia Flyers have now blown four two-goal leads in the last two weeks. They led 3-1 after two periods, and the Penguins evened up the score within two minutes of the third period. Michael Raffl scored late in the game to put the Flyers back on top, but Jake Guentzel picked up his second of the game with just over a minute remaining to send it to overtime.
Sidney Crosby won the game for the Penguins not two minutes into extra time.
And so the Flyers have lost eight in a row. Five of those losses have come in overtime or a shootout. Two of those losses were shutouts.
What now?
They have no time to dwell on blown leads or losing streaks. They are back in action tonight against the San Jose Sharks. It’s a home game. They have won only 28 of their last 74 games played since last year’s 10-game winning streak. No coaching changes are imminent. It’s on the players to climb out of this hole they have dug themselves.
Something has to give.
This team will win eventually.
But the Sharks are 8-1 in Philly. They dominate the Flyers, even though they lost their opening night matchup against them.
Prediction: Take the Sharks to win. Play the over.
Blackhawks vs Predators: Nashville is as hot at home as the New York Rangers. The Preds are 8-1-0 on home ice.
They are catching the Chicago Blackhawks on the tail end of a back-to-back, and the Hawks are winless in their last four such games. This is the Blackhawks’ first trip to Smashville since Game 4 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It’s going to be a loud building and a motivated Predators team.
These two teams have already split a pair of October games in the United Center, both by a 2-1 score.
Prediction: Take the Predators to win. Play the under.
Stars vs Golden Knights: The Dallas Stars are 3-8-0 on the road. Vegas is 9-1-0 at home and have triumphed in their last eight contests at T-Mobile Arena.
How in the world are the Golden Knights only a -115 in this game?
Vegas just cannot be beat on home ice. It doesn’t matter who is in net or who their opponent is, they just cannot lose. And the Dallas Stars have a huge problem scoring on the road. They were shutout by the Colorado Avalanche in Denver, held to one goal in Tampa and Carolina, and three in Sunrise against the Panthers.
The Stars have scored more than three goals as the visiting team only twice this season.
They just are not consistent yet. What else is new for the Stars.
Prediction: Take the Golden Knights to win. Play the under.
