NHL Predictions – Wednesday, October 30:
It was crazy eights on Tuesday in the NHL. The Seattle Kraken and Ottawa Senators each scored eight goals in their wins and the Rangers and Wild games each had eight combined goals scored. The San Jose Sharks cashed for the second consecutive night as a 200-plus underdog, as favorites were just 3-4 after winning 23 of the previous 29 games. Two of the favorites to cash last night (Ottawa and Seattle) were in that sweet spot of (-175 to -199). These betting favorites are 14-8, with 12 of the 14 wins by two or more goals. If you played each game on the Money Line, you would be down 1.1 units. Conversely, if you played each of those games on the Puck Line (-1.5 goals), you would be up 6.55 units. Looks like we will have to wait until at least Thursday for the next opportunity to find a game that falls into this sweet spot. Let’s look at tonight’s NHL predictions.
New York Islanders (-148; 6.5) at Columbus Blue Jackets
7:00 p.m. ET
Good things are happening on the ice in Columbus. The Jackets are coming off a 6-1 pounding of the Edmonton Oilers in a game highlighted by Connor McDavid suffering a lower-body injury 37 seconds into his first shift of the game. The Jackets have scored six goals in each of their four wins, and tonight, they will try to put together back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Tonight’s opposition, the New York Islanders are coming off a 3-1 loss to Anaheim on home ice. The Islanders were 1-9 last season on the back end of back-to-backs and lost their only game this season in this scenario. Three of the Jackets’ four wins this season have come against teams that are on the back end of a back-to-back.
Up front, Kirill Marchenko leads the Jackets in scoring with 4 goals and 11 points. Marchenko has points in six of eight games and four multi-point games. Outside of Columbus and maybe even inside Columbus, most hockey fans don’t know who he is, but Marchenko has had back-to-back 20-goal seasons.
Free agent Sean Monahan has been playing with a heavy heart with the passing of his good friend Johnny Gaudreau and is off to a strong start with nine points in eight games. Monahan is second on the team in points and shots on goal. He has had three or more shots on goal in four straight games and six of the eight games this season.
NHL Prediction: Columbus Blue Jackets ML +124 – 1 unit
Sean Monahan Over 2.5 SOG – 1 unit
Kirill Marchenko Over ½ point (-135) – 1 unit
Winnipeg Jets (-148; 6) at Detroit Red Wings
7:30 p.m. ET
The Winnipeg Jets’ eight-game win streak to start the season came to an end with a 6-4 home loss and the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. Winnipeg will look to start a new win streak tonight when they head into Detroit for tonight’s game against the Red Wings. Winnipeg has won three straight meetings against Detroit and seven of the last 10 matchups. The Jets have scored four or more goals in five of their last seven wins versus Detroit. The Wings have given up four or more goals in four of their five losses this season, while the Jets have scored four or more goals in five of their last six games overall.
After winning three straight, the Wings have dropped their last two games and have been outshot 182-106 over the five-game span. Alex Lyon is expected to get the start in goal for Detroit tonight and will be making his first career start versus the Jets. There are a couple of Jets players that both Lyon and I will be focusing on tonight. Michigan native and University of Michigan graduate Kyle Connor has been off to a blazing start, with a point in every game. His eight goals and 14 points, lead the team in scoring. Connor has 13 points in 12 career games versus the Red Wings, and teammate Nikolaj Ehlers has 15 points in 13 games versus Detroit.
NHL Predictions: Jets -1.5 goals (+170) – 1 unit
Kyle Connor/Nikolaj Ehlers each over ½ point (+136) – 1 unit
Tampa Bay Lightning at Colorado Avalanche
9:00 p.m. ET
Star power will be front and center in this game tonight when Tampa visits the mile-high city with three of the top eight-point leaders on the ice. The game opened with the Avalanche as the betting favorite as high as (-135), but we are seeing a line move to Tampa, with both teams now sitting at -110. It’s an interesting line move, considering Tampa is receiving only 45% of the bets and 39% of the money.
Colorado took another hit (literally) to their roster on Sunday, losing leading goal scorer Ross Colton after he blocked a shot in the Avs loss to Chicago.
The Colton loss means more heavy lifting for Avs superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. The dynamic duo has points in all 10 Colorado games and are in the top five in the NHL scoring race. The big issue for the Avalanche has been keeping pucks out of their own net. Alexander Georgiev led the NHL in wins last season despite a save percentage below .900. In his six starts this season, he has yet to give up fewer than three goals, and twice he has surrendered five. Tonight, the Avalanche will turn to Kaapo Kahkonen, who they recently claimed on waivers from the Winnipeg Jets. Kahkonen started his career in Minnesota and has also played for San Jose and New Jersey. He has given up seven goals on 61 shots in his two career starts versus Tampa.
The Lightning come into Denver fresh off an emotional 3-2 overtime win over Nashville and former teammate and captain Steven Stamkos. Tampa enters tonight on a two-game win streak and has won three of their last four games. The Bolts have won three of the last four meetings with Colorado and scored four goals or more in all three wins.
From a betting standpoint, I am going to attack the prop market. Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli, who make up two-thirds of the team’s second line and both get power play time, have 10 points to start the season. Jake Guentzel has recorded three or more shots on goal in four of the last five games. On the Colorado side, Casey Mittelstadt has six points in his last four games and has cashed his shots on goal prop (Over 2.5) the past two games.
NHL Predictions: Brandon Hagel/ Anthony Cirelli over ½ point parlay (+246) – 1 unit
Jake Guentzel over 2.5 SOG (-165) – 1unit
Tampa TT over 3.5 (+105) – 1unit
Casey Mittelstadt Over 2.5 SOG (+125) – 1 unit
Vegas Golden Knights (-130; 6) at Los Angeles Kings
10:30 p.m. ET
The Los Angeles Kings are coming off a 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks last night in a game that I will characterize as a pathetic effort by the Kings. Los Angeles faced a San Jose team that played the night before, snapping an eight-game losing streak to start their season as they rallied to beat Utah, 5-4 in overtime. LA generated just two shots on goal in the third period and were outscored 3-1. Now, it’s the Kings that find themselves on the back end of a back-to-back facing a rested Golden Knights team that cruised to a 6-1 win over LA eight days ago.
Vegas captain, Mark Stone is tied atop the league scoring race with 18 points. His line with Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev has been one of the league’s best, combining for 15 goals and 46 points. The Knights have scored 24 goals in the last four games and are averaging just shy of five goals per game (4.70) this season.
As they say, one man’s injury is another person’s opportunity. When Victor Olofsson went down with a lower-body injury, Pavel Dorofeyev took his spot on the powerplay. Dorofeyev has gone over his shots on goal prop (2.5) in four of six games since the Olofsson injury, including nine shots on goal on Saturday versus the Sharks.
NHL Predictions: Pavel Dorofeyev Over 2.5 SOG (+110) – 1 unit
Vegas Golden Knights TT Over 3.5 (+125) – 1 unit
Vegas Golden Knights/Los Angeles Kings 1st period Over 1.5 (-130) – 1 unit
New Jersey Devils at Vancouver Canucks (-130; 6.5)
10:30 p.m. ET
It is round eight of the battle of the Hughes brothers, with Jack leading Quinn, 6-1. Quinn and the Canucks snapped a six-game losing skid to Jack and the Devils with a 6-4 victory at Jersey last January. Luke, the youngest of the three, has played in the previous two meetings since joining the Devils and is 1-1 against his brother Quinn.
In the seven meetings, Jack has six goals and seven assists, and in the last four games, Jack has registered 6, 9, 8, and 5 shots on goal. Two other Devils that have caught my eye are Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt. Hischier has gone over his shots on goal prop (2.5) in four of his last five games, while Bratt has earned a point in 10 of 11 games this season and has 10 points in 11 career games versus Vancouver.
NHL Predictions: Jack Hughes/Bratt each Over ½ point parlay (+117) – 1 unit
Jack Hughes over 4.5 SOG (+170) – 1 unit
Nico Hischier Over 2.5 SOG (-140) – 1 unit
