NHL Predictions – Tuesday, October 22:
Happy NHL Frozen Frenzy Day. We have all 32 teams in action with the first game starting at 6 p.m. ET, followed by puck drops every 15 minutes, concluding with the Kings and Golden Knights in Vegas at 8 p.m. PT. VSIN will be well-represented at the Knights game. I will be on press row, while Stormy Buonantony will be working rinkside for ESPN. I am sure this will be a special night for Stormy, who was the Golden Knights’ rinkside reporter before joining VSIN.
I have isolated four of tonight’s games and I did add a pair of games that I am leaning to but haven’t pulled the trigger on as of yet.
Tampa Bay Lightning at New Jersey Devils (-155, 6.5)
6:45 p.m. ET
The Lightning will look to end a two-game losing streak and salvage the final game of their three-game road trip when they face the Devils in New Jersey. No. 1 goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was pulled from Monday night’s game in Toronto and has given up nine goals in his last two games. Backup goalie Jonas Johansson is expected to start against the Devils. Johansson saw his first action of the regular season in taking over for Vasilevskiy with Tampa trailing 4-1. Johansson stopped 14 of 15 shots in 28:22 of action.
The Devils last played on Saturday, a 6-5 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals. New Jersey is 5-2-1 on the season but has lost two of its past three games.
Tonight is a great bounce-back spot for New Jersey to get back in the win column. Why? The Lightning are not only in a back-to-back situation, but they’re playing three games in four days (all on the road), four games in six days and five games in eight days. Plus the Devils avoid Vasilevskiy. New Jersey’s Timo Meier comes in with four points in his last two games and has 12 points in 15 career games vs the Lightning.
NHL Predictions: New Jersey Devils ML (-155) – 2 units
Timo Meier Over ½ point (-155) – ½ unit
NY Rangers (-230, 6) at Montreal Canadiens
7:15 p.m. ET
The Rangers are coming off a most impressive 4-1 win over the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Saturday night. New York is 4-0-1 to start the season and has outscored the opposition 19-4 in its four wins. Four continues to be the Rangers’ magic number when it comes to victories. They have scored four or more goals in all four wins. They scored four-plus goals in 72 of their 102 wins over the past two seasons. That is a 71% success rate. The Rangers have also covered the Puck Line (-1.5 goals) in all four wins.
After blanking the Maple Leafs 1-0 in their opening game of the season, the Canadiens have dropped four of their last five, surrendering 19 goals in the losses. It won’t get any easier with the Rangers in town. The Canadiens have lost three straight and four of five to New York and have given up four or more goals in each of the four losses.
Quebec native Alexis Lafreniere is off to a hot start with six points in the first five games and I see no reason why his point streak stops tonight in his hometown.
NHL Predictions: Rangers in Regulation (-130) – 2 units
Rangers TT over 3.5 (-125) – 2 units
Alexis Lafreniere over ½ point (-140) – 1 unit
Colorado Avalanche (-122, 6.5) at Seattle Kraken
8:30 p.m. ET
After dropping their first four games to start the season the Avalanche (2-4) have put together back-to-back wins. Before you think the Avs have turned the corner, those wins came against the winless Sharks (0-6) and an Anaheim team that has two wins in five games, including one over San Jose. Injuries to Jonathan Drouin and Devon Toews, Gabe Landeskog still rehabbing a lower-body injury and Val Nichushkin’s suspension have all contributed to Colorado’s slow start. With their depth being challenged, the Avalanche have relied even more on their big three of Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen and last season’s Hart Trophy winner, Nathan MacKinnon. Makar (11 points) is tied for league scoring lead with MacKinnon and Rantanen just one point back.
Seattle never got going last season after winning just two of its first nine games. This season, the Kraken have four wins in their first six games and are coming off a 2-1 overtime win on Saturday, handing the Calgary Flames (4-0-1) their first loss of the season. A coaching change in the summer and the additions of free agents Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour have aided the Kraken’s early season success. While scoring depth has been an issue for Colorado (eight players with goals), 13 players have scored a goal and 18 have at least one point for Seattle. This is a good opportunity to back underdog Kraken.
NHL Prediction: Seattle (+102) – 1 unit
Los Angeles Kings at Vegas Golden Knights (-155, 6)
11 p.m. ET
It’s the final game of the night to cap the NHL’s 16-game Frozen Frenzy. The Kings are coming off a pair of 4-1 victories over the Montreal Canadiens and the Anaheim Ducks while the Golden Knights return home after going 0-2-1 on their three-game road trip, with losses to the Capitals, Lightning and Panthers. Frustrating for the Golden Knights and those who backed them is that they coughed up the lead a combined six times to the two Florida teams in losing the final two games of the trip.
The Kings are dealing with inconsistencies of their own to start the season. Part of the early season struggles can be attributed to the loss of future Hall of Fame defenseman Drew Doughty, who is out until January with a fractured ankle suffered in the preseason game against the Golden Knights. The other issue facing the Kings is trying to find the right line combinations to get the offense going. Quinton Byfield’s move from wing to center lasted all of four games. Byfield is back in his familiar spot, playing on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.
The Kings have won the last two meetings with the Under cashing both times (five total goals in each). This game opened with a total of six and dropped to 5.5 with 36% of the bets and 62% of the money coming in on the Under, according to the VSIN bet splits page. In the eight games before the two-game Under run, these teams combined for six goals or more.
Kopitar leads the Kings in scoring with three goals and eight points. He has 36 points in 32 career games versus the Golden Knights.
NHL Predictions: Kings/Golden Knights Over 5.5 (-120) – 1 unit
Anze Kopitar Over ½ point (-140) – 1 unit
A couple of leans
Columbus Blue Jackets (+190) – ½ unit
7:30 p.m. ET
The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off games against two of the elite teams in the conference (Rangers and Lightning) and are on the back end of a back-to-back and three games in four nights.
Winnipeg Jets (-1.5 +170) – ½ unit
8 p.m. ET
Winnipeg is the last of the unbeaten teams in the NHL at 5-0. The Jets have won three straight and nine of the last 10 meetings against the St. Louis Blues. In eight of their nine wins over St. Louis, Winnipeg covered the Puck Line (-1.5) goals.
