Three games await on this Halloween night. Let’s take a look at our NHL Daily Predictions.
| Golden Knights vs Rangers ML +163 / -181 O/U 5.5 |
Coyotes vs Red Wings ML +180 / -200 O/U 5.5 |
| Jets vs Wild ML +120 / -140 O/U 6 |
Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.
Golden Knights vs Rangers: The magical winning streak of the Vegas Golden Knights has ended at five.
All it took was for them to use their fourth-string goaltender.
Oscar Dansk, who was off to a fantastic start to his NHL career, was forced to leave last night’s game against the New York Islanders after allowing a game-tying goal to John Tavares 15 minutes into the second period. Dansk appeared to tweak something in his groin or knee, as he was in clear pain when he dropped to the butterfly.
Replacing Dansk was Maxime Lagace, 24-year-old making his NHL debut. It could have gone better. He allowed four goals on 11 shots and the Golden Knights left the Barclays Center on the wrong end of a 6-3 score.
We’re at the point where there’s more job security being a drummer for Spinal Tap than there is as a Golden Knights goaltender.
One would imagine that Lagace will be the starting goaltender tonight against the New York Rangers. It’s entirely possible that Vegas’ backup will just be whoever is sitting in the Chase Bridge that wants to suit up.
If the Rangers lose tonight to Maxime Lagace, they might as well just burn Madison Square Garden to the ground and start over.
Larry Brooks wrote in the New York Post that Alain Vigneault’s job could rest on this one game, as a loss could be the final straw.
I’m inclined to agree if they lose to Maxime flippin’ Lagace.
Defenseman and alternate captain Marc Staal spoke out in defense of Alain Vigneault yesterday, which is more defense he’s provided than the last three seasons combined. Staal defending Alain Vigneault and saying it’s not his fault is like me defending GetMoreSports saying there is not a problem with the hockey writing staff. There’s a bit of a conflict of interest.
The reason why Vigneault is in hot water in the first place is because he plays Staal in crunch time minutes. Staal must not remember last postseason.
In other news in Rangerstown, President of Hockey Operations and former general manager Glen Sather and several other front office members were in Ottawa to watch the Senators take on the Canadiens.
Make that an AGM, a pro scout, the president, and a consultant. Have to wonder how much is theatre to motivate players vs substance. https://t.co/addquf9SeV
— Adam Herman (@AdamZHerman) October 30, 2017
Alex Galchenyuk has seen his role diminish since Claude Julien took over the Montreal Canadiens. With the Habs and Rangers both panicking because of their slow starts, there may be fire at the base of this smoke.
A bit of good news for the Golden Knights: Shea Theodore is expected to make his long-awaited Vegas debut tonight.
Prediction: Take the Rangers to win. Play the over.
Jets vs Wild: The Minnesota Wild are currently behind the Colorado Avalanche in the standings. That should just about sum up where they’re at.
They are starting to turn things around, though. Minnesota has won their last two games and three of their last four. This is game four of their six-game homestand.
Though he has not registered a point in three games, the team leader in goals and points is third-liner Chris Stewart. Six goals leads the Wild. Picking up the slack and soon to overtake Stewart in the scoring department is Jared Spurgeon, who has three points in his last two games. He leads the team with seven assists.
Spurgeon skates on the top pair for Ryan Suter. His ice time is up to about 25 minutes a night lately. The 27-year-old has been steadily increasing from year to year, and he’s already a seasoned NHL vet with seven full seasons under his belt. He’s one of the smoothest, most under-rated defensemen in the NHL.
His defensive partner Suter has a goal and five assists.
The Wild have had an odd start to their season. They have already had two faux bye-weeks. Their Saturdays normally are followed by multiple days of rest. They have played every Saturday in October, and have had, in order: four days, five days, two days, and two more days of rest.
That’s some weird scheduling.
Factor in that Zach Parise, Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter and Landon Ferraro are all injured and this has been one bumpy start to the season.
Devan Dubnyk has suffered as a result of the scrambled start. Dubnyk was a big fan of defensive coach Scott Stevens last year, as Stevens implemented a system that limited shot opportunities to the outside. Stevens resigned from the coaching staff following their premature exit from the postseason.
Dubnyk is 3-3-1 with a .905 save percentage and 3.04 goals-against average. With a bit more consistency in the scheduling, he will find his groove and return to the mean. He’s looked stronger in his last three starts, allowing just six goals to the Penguins, Canucks and Islanders.
Winnipeg will counter with Steve Mason in goal tonight. Mason has been an unmitigated disaster for the Jets so far- 0-3-1, 4.84 goals-against average, .872 save percentage.
Since Connor Hellebuyck has been stellar so far, one has to wonder how long Mason will be in town before he’s traded, or worse, waived.
Winninpeg beat the Wild earlier this month 4-3 on home ice. This is their first trip to Minnesota this season. The Wild won both home games against the Jets last season.
Prediction: Take the Wild to win. Play the over.
Coyotes vs Red Wings: Plan the parade! Ready the ticker tape! Break up the Yotes! Arizona has a win!!!
The Coyotes scored the first two goals of the game last night against the Flyers in Philadelphia. Brendan Perlini made it 3-0 early in the third.
Just when it looked like a win was in the bag, the Flyers came roaring back, tallying three unanswered- two in the final minute of regulation.
A lesser team would be deflated. They would chalk it up to the universe conspiring against them and roll over in 3-on-3 overtime.
Not our rugged Coyotes.
With 15 seconds remaining in the extra time, Alex Goligoski finished off a picture-perfect tic-tac-toe play to give the Coyotes their first win of the season. They officially snapped the second-longest winless streak to start a season in NHL history.
The euphoria can only last but one day, as Arizona is back in action at Detroit.
Scott Wedgewood was in goal for Arizona yesterday, meaning it could be the return of Antti Raanta tonight.
Clayton Keller extended his point-scoring streak to six games. Nik Hjalmarsson exited the game in the third period after taking a stick to the face. He is questionable for tonight.
The magic carpet ride can only last so long. But the Red Wings are 1-5-1 in their last seven and 1-3 at home this year. Why not roll the dice?
Prediction: Take the Scalding Hot Coyotes to win. Play the under.
