Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – November 5th Edition

We told you in this space a week ago that the Los Angeles Kings was reportedly getting close to firing Coach John Stevens. That happened on Sunday even though the Kings won on Saturday night. Stevens’ replacement behind the bench is Willie Desjardins, who will serve with an interim label. Desjardins has a lengthy coaching résumé and last served as a head coach for the Vancouver Canucks from 2014-17. Here’s a look at two interesting matchups this week. Check back for NHL odds. 

Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – November 5th Edition

Sunday mood: pic.twitter.com/9gYlVtv9AR

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) 4 de noviembre de 2018

 

Vegas Golden Knights at Toronto Maple Leafs

• When: Tuesday, 7 PM ET (ESPN+)

 The Leafs are without superstar Auston Matthews for about a month due to a shoulder injury. He was injured on a hit by Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba. Unfortunately, injuries are nothing new for the 2017 Calder Trophy winner. The 21-year-old suffered a shoulder injury prior to being selected first overall in the 2016 NHL Draft. After playing all 82 games and scoring 40 goals in his rookie campaign, he suffered three separate injuries and missed 20 games last season. The Maple Leafs went 11-7-2 in those games. Matthews was leading the NHL with 10 goals when hurt.

Toronto lost its first two games without Matthews, 3-1 vs. Calgary and 2-1 vs. Dallas, but won in Pittsburgh on Saturday 5-0. John Tavares scored a goal and assisted on another. Parked in the slot, Tavares tipped home his eighth goal of the season off a shot from Mitch Marner and then followed that up with the primary assist on Morgan Rielly’s fifth goal of the season. The 28-year-old Tavares is now up to eight goals and 16 points in 14 games to start his Maple Leaf career. Rielly had two goals and his six lead all NHL defensemen.

Frederik Andersen stopped all 31 shots he faced. He’s 7-5-0 with a 2.28 goals-against-average and a .924 save percentage. It was the sixth game in a row that Andersen has allowed two or fewer goals against. It was his 10th shutout as a Leaf, and he became the first Leaf goalie to get a shutout in Pittsburgh since Mikael Tellqvist did on March 19, 2006. Oddly, the Leafs are 6-0-0 on the road, 3-5-0 at home.

Vegas is off a 3-0 win over Carolina Saturday. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 34 shots he faced for his 50th-career NHL shutout. Fleury hasn’t had as much success as he had last season, but it’s mostly been the offense’s fault. It was just the fifth time in 14 games the Knights had managed more than two goals in a game.

The Knights are without two wingers in Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty. Stastny was hurt Oct. 8 in Buffalo and will miss at least another month. Vegas signed Stastny to a $19.5 million, three-year contract in the offseason after he had 15 points in 17 playoff games with the Winnipeg Jets last spring. Pacioretty has missed the past four with an upper-body injury but has been skating so maybe he plays here. 

Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals

• When: Wednesday, 7:30 PM ET (NBC Sports Network)

 It’s always an event in the NHL with superstars Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin face off as they do here. Pittsburgh hosted Washington on Oct. 4, the Pens’ first game of the year and Capitals’ second, and the Penguins won 7-6 in overtime. Kris Letang scored his second goal 1:20 into overtime. Letang beat goalie Braden Holtby with a slap shot from the point on a power play. Letang finished with three points. Jake Guentzel also scored twice, Evgeni Malkin had a goal and two assists, and Derick Brassard and Jamie Oleksiak added goals. Matt Murray made 30 saves. Ovechkin had a goal and TJ Oshie two.

Pittsburgh is slumping right now, though, entering the week on a three-game skid. Malkin saw his nine-game scoring streak come to a halt Saturday in a 5-0 loss to Toronto. Malkin has been outstanding this season and has 20 points in 12 contests as he is fourth in the NHL in scoring, trailing only Mikko Rantanen, Connor McDavid, and Nathan MacKinnon. He is tied for second in points-per-game with Elias Pettersson of Vancouver at 1.67, trailing only Rantanen who is at 1.71 as he has 24 points in 14 games.

Center Derick Brassard has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury and still has not resumed skating. The Penguins need some production from their bottom-six forwards and Brassard was expected to carry a lot of the load and while he has five points in eight games this season, four points have come playing the wing alongside Crosby.

Washington enters the week also struggling, loser of two straight and yet to win back-to-back games all year. They were 4-3 OT losers at home to Dallas on Saturday. All four Dallas goals came as the direct result of Washington turnovers, with Holtby’s own misplay behind the cage leading to the second of the Stars’ tallies. Holtby allowed four goals on 37 shots. He’s 4-3-2 with a 3.62 goals-against-average and a .888 save percentage.

Turnovers and poor puck and game management have plagued the Caps all too frequently in their first dozen games this season, but their potent offensive attack has kept them from going more than two games without a point. 

Expert NHL Betting Predictions

Take the Leafs and Caps.