Chris Peters makes four money line picks for Saturday night's NHL action.
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Hurricanes to beat Canucks {ODDS:864567466:1.46}
The schedule is not doing the Canucks any favors at the moment. Over five days they will have had to play the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes – owners of three of the NHL’s top four points percentages this season. Not even new coach Bruce Boudreau, who had the team starting red-hot when he was brought in, has an answer for that kind of stretch.
The Canucks lost their games against Florida and Tampa Bay, but now have to meet Carolina which has the second-best points percentage in the NHL with a 24-8-2 record, including an 11-4-1 mark on home ice so far this season.
The Hurricanes, however, have lost two straight games, including an overtime defeat to Florida and a shocking 6-0 drubbing at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Plus, Carolina lost to Vancouver on the road last month when the Canucks were at their hottest.
The Hurricanes have had some goaltending issues of late as they’ve had injuries in their system, forcing them to sign college goalie Jack LaFontaine just to have enough options in net. Frederik Andersen laid an egg against Columbus, but might get a chance to redeem himself in this one.
Coming off of their worst loss of the season and the first time they’d been shut out all year, I can’t see Carolina putting forth another performance like that. The Canucks have been through the ringer this week, too. There are too many advantages for Carolina to pick against them here.
Blues to beat Maple Leafs {ODDS:864569788:2.65}
St. Louis has won 10 of its last 13 games and are now a top-10 team in the NHL in terms of record and points percentage. The Maple Leafs are just a few spots ahead of them in the points percentage department, but have dropped two of their last three of an extended road trip. Toronto’s last loss came on the second half of a back-to-back and they’ve had two days between games to regroup.
The Blues are home underdogs in this one despite having the second-best home record in the NHL at 15-3-2. No team has allowed fewer goals against per game. So why are they home dogs? It’s got a lot to do with the number of players the Blues have in health protocols including Vladimir Tarasenko, Colton Parayko, Pavel Buchnevich and Brayden Schenn. Despite that, St. Louis still has tremendous depth. Jordan Binnington is playing well of late and forward Jordan Kyrou is one of the hottest scorers in the NHL of late.
I think the Blues have the depth to absorb the roster losses, and can play the matchups well despite Toronto being mostly healthy and on a few days’ rest. They’ve done it well so far and I think that continues.
Flyers to beat Rangers {ODDS:864570532:2.25}
In the midst of a six-game losing streak, the benefit of the coaching change has worn off for the Flyers and they’re spiraling a bit.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are going to be coming off of a cross-country trip following four games out west where they won two and lost two. This feels like it could be a schedule loss for the Rangers, with two games in three days and a 3,000-mile flight in between.
The Flyers have played especially poorly of late, and the only previous meeting between these two teams was a 4-1 Rangers win at home. There’s no getting around that, but I like their chances better at home against a road-weary team.
Both clubs have injuries and protocol issues they’re dealing with, but I’d expect a highly-competitive game with a slight edge to the home team.
Oilers to beat Senators {ODDS:865478639:1.46}
The Oilers are finally home after a disastrous road trip that saw them lose five straight, meanwhile the Senators have barely played over the month of January. They did win their last game, just south of Edmonton, taking a 4-1 win over Calgary in their return to play.
This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season. If Edmonton doesn’t find a way to win this game, playing against one of the league’s worst teams by record, the restlessness among the fan base will reach a fever pitch. There’s a lot of pressure on the Oilers right now to stop the bleeding. Being on home ice should help.
I’m not sure how Ottawa is supposed to slow down Edmonton’s best players. Even though the Oilers can’t seem to defend or get a save when they need one, this is one game they could out-score their problems. I think they will.
