Two teams that’ve positioned themselves firmly in playoff contention, the Nashville Predators and the Vegas Golden Knights clash at Bridgestone Arena in a Western Conference tilt. The opening face-off is at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, December 8, and it’s being shown live on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Nashville Predators Odds
With a moneyline of -185, Nashville enters the contest as the obvious favorite. The line for Vegas sits at +160 and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The odds for betting the total sit at -110 for the over and -110 for the under.
Nashville is 18-10 straight up (SU) and has earned 7.4 units for moneyline bettors this year. That winning percentage, ranked third in the NHL in this young season, is an improvement over the 41-41 record from last year’s regular season campaign. Through 28 regular season outings, 15 of its games have gone over the total, while 13 have gone under and none have pushed. This year, the team is 11-3 SU at home.
The Predators come into the matchup with the second-strongest power-play unit in the NHL, as the team has converted on 27.1 percent of their extra-man advantages this year. On the other hand, their penalty kill is ranked sixth overall, and they’ve successfully killed off 83.2 percent of all penalties.
As a collective unit, the Predators have been penalized 5.5 times per game overall this season, and 4.4 per game over their last five contests home outings. The team’s had to kill penalties for 9.4 minutes per contest over their last five home games.
Sporting a .926 save percentage and 30.2 saves per game, Pekka Rinne (16 wins, six losses, and two OT losses) has been the primary goalkeeper for Nashville this year. If the Preds decide to give him a rest, however, the team could turn to Juuse Saros (2-4-4 record, .890 save percentage, 3.43 goals against average).
The Preds will continue relying on leadership from Filip Forsberg and Kyle Turris. Forsberg (28 points) has tallied 14 goals and 14 assists and has recorded two or more points in seven different games this year. Turris has six goals and 15 assists to his credit and has notched at least one point in 12 games.
On the other bench, Vegas is 17-10 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 10.5 units this season. A total of 17 of its matches have gone over the total, while eight have gone under and just two have pushed. The Golden Knights are 6-8 SU as the road team this season.
The Golden Knights have converted on 18.8 percent of their power play chances this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 25th overall and it’s successfully killed off 77.6 percent of all opponent power plays.
Vegas’ players have been called for penalties only 3.5 times per game in total this season, 3.0 per game over their past five contests total, and 3.8 per game over their last five games as the visiting team. The team has had to defend opponent power plays just 6.5 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Maxime Lagace (.866 save percentage and 3.85 goals against average) has been the primary option in goal for Vegas. Lagace is averaging 22.9 saves per game and owns a 6-7-1 record.
Leading the offensive attack for the visiting Golden Knights will be Jonathan Marchessault (10 goals, 15 assists) and William Karlsson (14 goals, 11 assists).
Vegas Golden Knights at Nashville Predators Free Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Golden Knights, O/U – Over
Notes
Betting Trends
Over Nashville’s last ten outings, six of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 5-1 in those games).
Power plays and penalty kills could be even more critical than usual in tonight’s game. The Golden Knights are 8-4 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 10-7 in games where they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes. The Predators are 7-1 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 8-3 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
Three of Nashville’s last ten games have ended in a shootout. The team is 2-1 in those games and 3-2 overall in shootouts this season.
Nashville has scored 3.3 goals per game overall this year, but has raised it up to 4.3 per matchup in its last three games (the team’s a perfect 2-0 SU during that streak).
Nashville is ranked 16th this season with 9.9 giveaways per game. That figure has regressed lately, as it’s averaged 12.2 giveaways over its last 10 games and 12.4 giveaways over its last five.
Vegas skaters have averaged 5.2 giveaways over its last five home games, an improvement from its season average of 10.4 giveaways per game (ranked 21st overall).
