Around the NHL: Predictions for October 18th

Here are the top picks, plays and predictions for tonight:

Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders, courtesy of LeftWingLock.

Play of the Day: Canucks over Blues.
Perhaps it’s the copious amounts of DayQuil that I’m on right now, but I rather like the Canucks over the Blues this early on in the season. Vancouver is a significant underdog on their home ice, and there is certainly reason for that. Despite their 2-0 start, it took them a shootout and overtime to defeat Calgary and Carolina respectively, hardly two powerhouses. The Canucks are projected to finish in the basement of the Western Conference this season, while the Blues are Stanley Cup Final contenders once again.

But this early in the season, as Vancouver hosts game three of a four-game homestand to start the season, anything can happen. Their top line of Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Loui Eriksson alone is enough to put quite a bit of pressure on the Blues’ defense.

The way that they will pull this off is by jumping on the Blues early. St. Louis had an extra day’s rest to prepare for their trek across western Canada this week.

Even though the Blues are 3-0, even though they had an extra day’s rest, and even though on paper they are far and away the better team, I’m going to the well for the Canucks for a chance at a big payday.

Prediction: Take the Canucks to win. Play the under.

The Game to Watch: Panthers vs Lightning.
The Battle for Florida is on. Even though both teams are 2-0, the line is heavily slanted in favor of the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is intriguing.

Florida, dating back to last year, has won four of the last five encounters between these two teams. However, they are 2-5 in their last seven trips to Tampa Bay, so it is essentially a wash.

Jonathan Marchessault, the former Bolt, has emerged as an early candidate for steal of the year. The bargain-bin player has notched two goals and two assists in his first two games as a Panther, with just a $750k cap hit attached to him. The 25-year-old is hardly a prolific scorer- his best season was last year, wherein he amassed 18 points in 45 games. But he has been slotted in on the top line alongside Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr. That’s faith.

Incidentally, Barkov also has four points on the season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have gotten contributions up and down their lineup. All four lines have scored, as the Bolts have flexed their depth muscles early. Alex Killorn and Jonathan Drouin in particular have come flying out of the gate.

Ben Bishop will start in net. James Reimer has been listed as the probable starter for Florida.

Funny that he’s starting and it’s not against the Maple Leafs, eh Lu?

I've just decided that Reims will play ALL of the games versus the leafs this year…… #Matthews

— Strombone (@strombone1) October 13, 2016

Prediction: Take the Bolts to win this one. The line is tempting, but the Bolts’ advantage in net could prove to be the difference. Play the under.

Other Game Notes Around the NHL

Ducks vs Devils: The Devils have their home opener tonight. New Jersey could be a dark horse for a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference this year. But in order to do so, they have to put up points against the big dogs.

Despite their off-season comings and goings, the Ducks are still considered a “big dog.” Anaheim is 5-0 in their last five meetings with the Devils, though the Devils are 6-1 in their last seven against the Pacific Division.

Jersey will need their defensive players to tighten up. When goals are at a premium, they have to remain true to their system. Kyle Quincey has been a notable standout and for all the wrong reasons, being burned on zone entries multiple times. Perhaps cut the guy some slack for being a very late addition, but the point still stands.

Perhaps a home opener will spark the Devils after coming up just short against the Panthers and Lightning in Florida. The Devils have mustered just three goals in those two games against tough opponents, making the under a definite in this game.

The under is 8-1-2 in the last 11 meetings between these two teams, if you need further proof.

Prediction: Take New Jersey to final reach the win column tonight. Play the under.

Sharks vs Islanders: Brent Burns is easily top 5 in the list of most fun players to watch.

The look is enough. The beard, the missing teeth, the gorgeous shiner he sported last night against the Rangers. However, the real reason is because he is easily one of the best defensemen in the league. I would argue that he and Erik Karlsson stand alone as the top offensive defensemen in the league.

Burns put on an offensive show in last night’s game against the Rangers, potting two goals and an assist. He was a vulture in the attacking zone.

If not for a superhuman effort on the part of the Rangers’ top line (Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Rick Nash), the Sharks might have escaped with a W.

A back-to-back could hurt their momentum, though, as they enter the Barclay’s Center. Aaron Dell, the 27-year-old rookie, will get his first NHL start tonight.

There is not much of a scouting report on Dell, other than that a start against the Islanders is trial by fire.

Prediction: Take the Isles to win. Play the over.

Avalanche vs Capitals: This line is straight-up disrespectful to the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs are 2-0 to start the season, including a dramatic come-from-behind victory last night against the defending champion Penguins. Gabriel Landeskog netted the game-tying and game-winning goals.

Yes it is a back-to-back against probably the best two teams in the East. But they saved their number one goalie for tonight and have shown no signs of quit this early in the year. They have been markedly better at simply getting shots to the net, which is something they were embarrassingly bad at under Patrick Roy.

I have the Caps to win tonight. But this line is something to behold.

Prediction: Take Washington to win. Play the under.