NHL Predictions – Expert Picks on Sunday, January 19:
Here are tonight’s NHL predictions:
NY Rangers (-115, 5.5) at Montreal Canadiens
7 p.m. ET
The Rangers and Canadiens are in a similar situation, having to play games on consecutive days and three games in four days. New York is coming off a 1-0 shootout win over Columbus on Saturday. They have now won four of their past five and three of the four wins by just one goal. Two of those victories were settled by overtime or a shootout. In fact, four of their last six games have needed to be settled in extra time.
The Blueshirts have defeated the Habs in both meetings this season and have now won four straight and seven of the last ten contests between the two teams. New York has scored four or more goals in six of their last seven wins against the Canadiens. Both Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick have earned a win against Montreal this season. It will likely be Quick who gets the start today, with Shesterkin playing last night against Columbus. Even though the Rangers earned the win on Saturday, they did not score in regulation or overtime, so it counts as a shutout for Blue Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov. That means the Rangers are in the system plays (team coming off a shutout, goal to be scored in first 10 minutes and first period Over 1.5).
The Rangers opened as a (-130) road favorite. This line is moving to Montreal, as the Rangers are now down to (-115). I explain the line move as a correction to the fact that Jonathan Quick is likely to get the start, and the opening line is based on Shesterkin starting. The Rangers are 9-4 as a road favorite this season and have covered the puck line and scored four or more goals in seven of the nine wins.
Montreal is coming off a tough loss to Toronto on Saturday. The Habs had a quick 3-0 first-period lead only to see Toronto score seven unanswered goals as they lost to the Leafs, 7-3.
The Canadiens have gone to overtime in four of their last seven games. Two of the last three meetings in Montreal have also gone to overtime.
NHL Predictions: Regulation Draw (+300) – ¼ unit
New York Rangers TT over 3.5 (+115) – 1 unit
Goal 1st 10 minutes/Yes (-160) – 1 unit
1st Period Over 1.5 goals (-140) – 1 unit
Lane Hutson Over ½ assist (+105) – ½ unit
Cole Caufield anytime goal (+150) – ¼ unit
Artemi Panarin Over ½ assist (-115) – ½ unit
Mika Zibanejad anytime goal (+280) – ¼ unit
Detroit Red Wings at Dallas Stars (-230, 5.5)
8 p.m. ET
Like the Rangers and Canadiens, the Wings and Stars also find themselves in a back-to-back and three games in four days. Dallas has lost two in a row and will look to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season. The Stars are in a great spot to end their losing streak as Detroit has lost 11 straight in Dallas and has yet to win a game when playing on consecutive days (0-9 combined on front and back end of back-to-backs). Detroit has scored just a combined four goals in the four losses on the second half of back-to-backs.
The goaltending matchup will be Alex Lyon for Detroit and Jake Oettinger for Dallas. Lyon, who saw his first action in 11 days last night (following an injury), played the third period in Detroit’s 5-1 loss to Tampa, stopping all six shots that came his way. He has faced Dallas once in his career, losing to the Stars and giving up five goals on 32 shots. Oettinger is 7-2 in his career versus Detroit.
A couple of trends that we hope will continue to be our friend when it comes to wagering on Red Wings games. Fifteen of the last 16 games have featured a goal in the first 10 minutes, and 10 of the 11 games with Todd McLellan behind the bench have had a combined six goals or more. Four of the eleven games have landed right on six goals. Shop around on the total. DraftKings is offering a 5.5, while many other sportsbooks are posting six as the total.
A couple of player props that have piqued my interest. Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat has six goals in 11 games versus Oettinger and Dylan Larkin has four goals in seven games.
The Stars Jason Robertson, who has goals (3 total) in back-to-back games and four goals in his last four games, has scored eight goals and 20 points in 12 games against the Red Wings.
NHL Predictions: Alex DeBrincat anytime goal (+240) – ¼ unit
Dylan Larkin anytime goal (+210) – ¼ unit
Jason Robertson anytime goal (+175) – ¼ unit
Jason Robertson Over ½ assist (-111 – ¼ unit)
Goal 1st 10 minutes/Yes (-145) – 1 unit
Detroit Red Wings/Dallas Stars Over 5.5 (-130) – 1 unit
