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New York Rangers v. Washington Capitals
The Rangers are certain to be feeling themselves tonight as they won 9-0 last time out. Games like that do not come around very often and they will surely be looking to capitalize on this momentum. New York will turn to Alexandar Georgiev again tonight after he got the shutout on Wednesday. The Caps are feeling themselves as well as they have won 6 straight games and sit atop the East Division standings. Washington will put Vitek Vanacek in net as they continue to rotate their goalies start after start. The Capitals are the better team and have been playing better hockey, but very rarely does a team come into town after a 9-0 win, Rangers will take this one.
The Bet: Rangers Moneyline
Prediction: Rangers 4-3 Capitals
Calgary Flames v. Toronto Maple Leafs
Calgary got stomped last game by Edmonton 7-3 and will be looking to bounce back tonight in Ontario. There is no way old school head coach Daryl Sutter was happy with their last performance and he will surely put the fear of god into them tonight. Toronto has had several days off as their last game was a 4-3 loss to the Senators on Sunday. That reset has helped the Leafs get healthy as they will welcome Wayne Simmonds back into the lineup tonight. The goalie matchup is Jacob Markstrom against Frederik Andersen, and while many pundits are sour on these two keepers, I actually believe they are better than their stats indicate.
The Bet: Under 6.5 Total Goals
Prediction: Flames 2-3 Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks v. Montreal Canadiens
Don’t look now but Vancouver is hot. They have won 6 of their past 7 games and are slowly starting to insert themselves back into the North Division playoff race. If they have any chance of making the postseason, however, they will need to catch teams like the Canadiens. Montreal continues to play the yo-yo game of win one, lose one, and it is mostly their lack of a consistent goal threat that causes these problems. Tonight they will turn to typical backup Jake Allen in advance of a rematch against Vancouver tomorrow on Hockey Night in Canada. The Canucks are hot, and a lot of that has to do with Thatcher Demko, who will play again tonight, ride the hot hand.
The Bet: Canucks Moneyline
Prediction: Canucks 3-1 Canadiens
St. Louis Blues v. San Jose Sharks
Speaking of don’t look now, the Blues have lost 5 in a row. Just two years removed from winning a Stanley Cup, St. Louis is in jeopardy of seeing their season hit freefall. Tonight brings a welcome matchup against a poor Sharks team who blew a 3-1 lead over Vegas last time out and lost 5-4. The Blues have nursed some injury woes all season but that is not an excuse for their record, while San Jose has been stuck with a bang average team full of aging veterans. With neither team getting consistently good goaltending, I see the nets being filled often.
The Bet: Over 5.5 Total Goals
Prediction: Blues 4-5 Sharks
Vegas Golden Knights v. Los Angeles Kings
Vegas has won 4 in a row and has a pristine 20-6-1 record that resembles more like a college basketball team than a hockey team. The Golden Knights do not have a weakness as they can get scoring from any forward line and quality, physical defending from each d-pair. In goal they boast the most in-form goalie in the league in Marc-Andre Fleury, and he gets the net again tonight. The Kings have sneakily put together a good season but their depth and quality is absolutely no match for Vegas. The boys from Sin City should be -200 favorites at minimum, instead you can find them around -155, which is definitely worth paying up for.
The Bet: Vegas Moneyline
Prediction: Vegas 4-1 Kings
Daily Fantasy (DFS) Plays of the Day:
Center: Mika Zibanejad-It's not very often a player scores 6 points in one period, in fact it's only happened twice, and Mika did it just two days ago. Lets see if he can keep his hot stick rolling tonight.
Wing: William Nylander-It wasn’t very long ago when hockey fans considered him overpaid, now it is time to wonder if he is underpaid. Nylander has points in 4 straight and his dynamic skill set makes him valuable at even strength and on the power play.
Defense: Shea Theodore-He is relatively high priced, but with Alex Pietrangelo still out due to injury, his ice time and exposure to the top forward lines make him a must play tonight on this small slate of games.
Goalie: Thatcher Demko-Perhaps the hottest goalie in the league, Demko has won 3 straight starts and has only allowed more than 2 goals once in his past 7 starts. Tonight he goes up against a Montreal team that has struggled to score recently.
Utility: Tomas Hertl-Since returning from injury, Hertl has 5 points in 5 games. The Sharks desperately need a win tonight and playing at home against a shaky Jordan Binnington led Blues team will help.
