There were originally 9 games scheduled in the NHL tonight but, due to the Islanders having some COVID-19 issues, we’re down to 8 games. Regardless, it’s still a great slate of games with some top tier matchups. The best games of the night are probably the following:

• Washington Capitals @ Florida Panthers
• Tampa Bay Lightning @ St. Louis Blues
• Carolina Hurricanes @ Dallas Stars

I have two plays for tonight, so check ’em out below!

San Jose Sharks @ New Jersey Devils

• Time: 7:00 PM ET
• TV Coverage: ESPN+
• San Jose Sharks: 11-9-1, 5th Pacific (6-5-0 Away)
• New Jersey Devils: 9-6-4, 6th Metropolitan (6-3-2 Home)

Trends:

• The total has gone UNDER in 6 of San Jose’s last 7 games.
• San Jose are 11-5 SU in their last 16 games against New Jersey.
• The total has gone OVER in 5 of New Jersey’s last 7 games.
• New Jersey are 2-5 SU in their last 7 games.

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks have had an up and down start to the season but, look to turn things around winning three of their last four. San Jose also recently placed Evander Kane on waivers and will send him to the AHL if he goes unclaimed. Kane has had some issues recently with gambling and domestic assault and it looks like the Sharks are sick of dealing with his off-ice issues.

San Jose will play their second away game of their five game road trip tonight. They’re coming off a 2-0 win on Sunday vs the Blackhawks. This will also be the final game between these two of the season as New Jersey claimed the first in a 3-2 shootout win.

Looking at this Sharks team from an offensive prospective, they haven’t been great. They have the 8th worst Expected Goals % with a 47.8%. The Sharks also rank near the bottom on the league in Goals For Above Expected, with a -3.61 and average only 2.27 Goals For Per 60. Statistically they’re led by Timo Meier who has 20 points in 16 games and tallied the lone two goals in their win on Sunday.

Defensively, they’ve been better with a 2.27 Goals Against Per 60 ranking middle of the road. The Sharks have a -2.07 Goals Against Above Expected which is again, is average. This may be misleading as the star of the show for San Jose has been James Reimer who has kept this team afloat at certain points. Reimer has been confirmed the starter for tonight and has a +6.9 Goals Saved Above Expected in his 13 games played.

New Jersey Devils

The Devils have made their money at home this season capturing six of their nine wins at the Prudential Center. According to New Jersey’s head coach, Lindy Ruff, Jack Hughes is questionable to return tonight from his shoulder injury (Note: Confirmed In). Hughes hasn’t played since mid October and would be a huge addition back to their lineup. Also, Hughes just signed an extension with the Devils for $63 million over 8 years.

Offensively, the Devils have one of the best Goals For Per 60 average with a 2.5. However, they are failing to capitalize on chances as seen in their Goals For Above Expected (-2.74). One area where they struggle is on the Power Play, ranking 30th in the league. Jesper Bratt and Andreas Johnsson lead the team in points with 17 a piece. Bratt is on a four game point streak and Johnsson has six points in his last two games.

New Jersey defensively has been much better with a Goals Against Above Expected that ranks near the top of the league (-8.25). They’re also on averaging 2.18 Goals Against per 60. Like their Power Play, their Penalty Kill has also struggled ranking 21st (80%). Mackenzie Blackwood has also had a good start to the season with a +3.5 Goals Saved Above Expected. He’s expected to get the start tonight but has had a few struggles as of late giving up three or more goals in three of his last five starts.

PICK: NEW JERSEY DEVILS TO WIN IN REGULATION -1/2 (+100)

The Devils have been playing great hockey at home this year and based off Jack Hughes most recent tweet, it looks like he’ll be in the lineup. The moneyline shifted drastically, almost 15 cents which I don’t particularly like so I’ll take them to win in regulation tonight.

Tampa Bay Lightning @ St. Louis Blues

• Time: 8:00 PM ET
• TV Coverage: ESPN+
• Tampa Bay Lightning: 12-5-3, 3rd Atlantic (5-2-1 Away)
• St. Louis Blues: 11-7-3, 2nd Central (6-3-1 Home)

Trends:

• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Tampa Bay’s last 6 games.
• Tampa Bay are 6-2 SU in their last 8 games.
• St. Louis are 3-7 SU in their last 10 games.
• The total has gone OVER in 9 of St. Louis’ last 13 games at home.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday where they were in a tough spot. Tampa did not play well losing the expected goal battle 1.42 to 4.98. Prior to that tough loss, Tampa rattled off three wins in a row that included a 5-4 shoutout win over Minnesota.

Offensively Tampa has looked to have found their groove again averaging 3.57 goals per game in their last 7. They have a 52.57 xGoals % with a -1.08 Goals For Above Expected. Steven Stamkos leads the team in points with 24 through his first 20 games played. He’s also on a four game point streak so he should be a guy you look to target in terms of player props. The Bolts will be without Mathieu Joseph who has been downgraded to doubtful for tonight’s game.

On the opposite side of the puck, Tampa has been good with a -4.06 Goals Against Above Expected. They also rank near the top of the league in Goals Against Per 60 giving up just 2.02. Unlike their Power Play that has struggled due to the injury of Nikita Kucherov, their Penalty Kills ranks 5th in the NHL. While Andrei Vasilevskiy did struggle a bit at the start of the season, he has found his form with a +8.2 Goals Saved Above Expected on the year. However, Brian Elliot has been confirmed the starter which is why the line shifted a bit. Elliot hasn’t been great so far with a -2.7 GSAx through three games.

St. Louis Blues

The Blues are coming off a solid win at home vs the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. They were able to snap a two game road skid where they lost to Detroit and Chicago. St. Louis got off to an incredible start to the season but have seemed to regressed a bit as expected.

Looking at the Blues from an offensive prospective they have been good on the year with a +2.59 Goals For Above Expected. They also rank near the top of the league in Goals For Per 60 with 2.57. One key offensively for them has been the ability to take advantage on special teams with a Power Play ranking 2nd. The Blues may also be without one of their top scorers as David Perron is questionable for tonight.

Defensively, the Blues have also been good with a 2.11 Goals Against per 60 average. They have a -7.24 Goals Against Above expected which ranks 9th. One area that St. Louis needs to clean up is in terms of High Danger Shots Against. They have given up 38 on the year which is near the bottom of the league. Jordan Binnington has been confirmed the starter tonight. He’s been their second best goalie this year in terms of GSAx but still has a +1.0.

PICK: OVER 5.5 (-115)

In my power rankings this games a pick em based off each teams recent form. However, with Elliot being confirmed as the starter I don’t really like the Lightning here. A play I was looking at earlier that is now in play is the over. Tampa has been clicking on offense recently and should be able to generate some scoring chances on this St. Louis defense.

Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.

The NHL continues to roll on… Only four games going tonight highlighted by the Penguins taking on the Flames.

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Calgary Flames

• Time: 9:00 PM ET
• TV Coverage: ESPN+
• Pittsburgh Penguins: 10-7-4, 5th Metropolitan (5-2-2 Away)
• Calgary Flames: 12-4-5, 2nd Pacific (3-2-3 Home)

Trends:

• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh’s last 5 games.
• Pittsburgh are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games.
• Calgary are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games.
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Calgary’s last 5 games at home.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins enter this game off a 6-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. Prior to that loss, they were on a five game win streak that included wins over Toronto, Winnipeg, and the Islanders.

Pittsburgh struggled during the early portion of the season mainly due to a bunch of injuries to key guys. Sidney Crosby, missed several games due to Covid protocols and has finally started to find his touch again, collecting three points in the past two games. While the Penguins are close to full strength they are still missing two offensive weapons in Evgeni Malkin (knee surgery) and Bryan Rust (lower body).

Offensively, the Penguins haven’t been great but, to their credit have preformed better than expected given the circumstances. They have one of the highest Expected Goal Percentages in the League with a 55.16%. However, they haven’t been able to capitalize on chances they should have, seen in their Goals For Above Expected (-5.1). They’re middle of the road in Goals For Per 60 averaging 2.44 which is slightly lower than their Expected Goals For Per 60. This team is great at generating chances including High Danger Shots For but needs to take advantage of those opportunities which they’ve been much better as of late.

Defensively, they have been pretty standard with a -1.1 Goals Against Above Expected. One highlight for this defense is their ability to kill penalties as they rank 1st in the NHL in PK %. They’re giving up an average of 2.16 Goals Against Per 60 which ranks 13th, slightly above average. In their last six games Pittsburgh’s defense has only given up more than 2 goals once, and is averaging 0.83 goals against. Tristan Jarry has been confirmed the starter for tonight and has been one of the best goalies in the NHL this season. He has a +9.8 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) and only allowed two goals in his last five starts.

Calgary Flames

Like the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Calgary Flames are also coming off a loss on Saturday. Calgary was on a four winning streak before being beaten at home 4-2 by the Winnipeg Jets.

The Flames offensively have been great this year with a 54.08 Expected Goals Percentage and averaging 2.58 Goals For Per 60. Johnny Gaudreau leads the team with 25 points through their first 21 games this year. Calgary has been one of the best teams at taking advantage of every scoring chance they get. They have a +1.16 Goals For Above Expected which ranks 9th in the League. On the man advantage the Flames have also been good, ranking 7th in PP%, but will have their hands full tonight.

While Calgary’s offense has been good, the Flames defense highlighted by Jacob Markstrom’s play, has been the story. The Flames currently lead the league in Goals Against Above Expected with -13.38. In addition to GAAx, they rank first in Goals Against Per 60 averaging just 1.35. Like their Power Play, the Flames have been good on the Penalty Kill with a 88.2%. However, Jacob Markstrom has been the star of the show for this team as previously mentioned. He enters the game with a +9.7 Goals Saved Above Expected and a league leading 5 shutouts.

PICK: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (+120) 

PICK: UNDER 5.5 (-125)

While both teams can generate offense, this should be a low scoring game given the goaltending matchup. I see this as more of a 50-50 game and given Pittsburgh’s road record, I like them here. Another interesting note is that Calgary has a better record on the road than they do at home.

Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.