Written by Scott on Monday, December 16th, 2024
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Didn’t end up having a tip yesterday. Graeme had said that we would take the Blues to win if Shesterkin was in net. Well it was Quick who played for New York and the Blues held off a late push from the Rangers and won 3-2.
Tokarski made his return to the NHL after almost 22 months and helped the Canes beat the Jackets 4-1. The Leafs scored 3 goals in 2:31 in the 2nd and came back to beat the Sabres 5-3 which was the 10th loss in a row for Buffalo.
I feel like an idiot as I realized that Christmas is in 9 days and I haven’t started shopping. Kids are pretty easy to shop for but the wife expects me to pick up on hints and remember things she mentioned months ago. Yeah that’s not happening. I just need to annoy her enough and she’ll tell me. Either that or a case of Michelob Ultra and a bottle of Crown is what she’s getting which, once allowed, I’ll gladly help her delete as soon as possible.
Only 3 games today.
Capitals vs Stars
Caps are playing great. Still no Ovechkin but they are on a 4 game win streak and are 8-1-1 in last 10. On the road they have also been strong going 12-2-0 away from Washington.
The Stars are 5-5 in their last 10 but haven’t looked as good as they can be but they are at home here when they have been real good going 12-3-0.
Caps are better in CF, GF, GA and XGF. I would say yeah it looks like a game the Caps should win. But it’s the Caps road record and the Stars home record that has me off of this game. Stars have been great at home which helps when the Caps are leading in the above mentioned stats.
Panthers vs Oilers
The Panthers have managed just one goal in their last 3 games and have been outscored 8-1 in those games. This will be the Panthers first game against, and in, Edmonton since the 7 game victory to win the cup back in June.
The Oilers are on a 5 game win streak and are 8-2 in last 10.
Their records are close with the Panthers going 18-11-2 and are in 2nd in the Atlantic and the Oilers are 18-10-2 and in 3rd in the Pacific. The Panthers road record is 9-6-1 which is also the home record of the Oilers.
With the way the games have been going the Oilers have the advantage. They are scoring more and allowing less and playing at home.
Oilers win incl OT/SO
Ontario: 1.74 Odds at Sports Interaction
Rest of Canada: 1.74 Odds at Sports Interaction
USA: -133 Odds at BetOnline.
Everyone Else: 1.74 Odds at Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv
(Odds correct as of 2024/12/16 8:46:04 AM EST but are subject to change.)
Avalanche vs Canucks
The Avalanche continue to try and find their way. They traded away a starting goalie and the one they brought back picked up a win in their first game.
The Canucks are still waiting for Demko to get himself back up to his former self.
If the Avalanche can get behind their new goalie Blackwood they still have time to climb the standings and close the 9 point gap between them and the Jets in 1st in the Central. The Canucks are 8 points behind the Pacific leading Knights and once Demko and the rest of the team gain some traction they can close that gap.
I’m going to stay away from these teams until I see them get back on track with the goalie situation.
J. Chychrun scorers for Capitals to 5.50 with 3u
To WIN moneyline: Edmonton Oilers
The situation in mid December calls for the Oilers to put on a 200′ Clinic in domination. The Panthers are NOT clicking right now. They’ve been playing every other day and the great Northwest loop has them out of their league. They’re taking too many penalties and their shots are not high danger opportunities. A Bantam team could put up 35 shots on any NHL team, but none would score. Panthers looked very mediocre against Calgary and it was not a back-to-back; they didn’t show skating prowess and were easily marginalized away from high danger setups.
Like the Avs and Carolina, the Oilers are very FAST, and their defense should easily figure out how to shut Florida down, and good forechecking greatly obstructs the Panthers ability to get anything started. It could be that persistent obstructive forechecking and marginalizing the play to the boards is the major key to ruining the Panthers offense. They can’t overcome that obstacle. Vancouver and Calgary have the legs for it. Maybe the Panthers don’t have the legs and lungs for it. The Oilers offense IS clicking very well, and the Oiler PowerPlay is hot in high gear. Plus the HUGE motivational factor of the Oilers wanting to crush the Panthers into the high prairie dust after the Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 result. High chances that this game has some of the finest performances in any game thus far this season. Or the Panthers may fold and it’s 8-2 Oilers. I’m not guessing on the Over/Under. You could argue for both, and the props are subsequently just as risky.
Struck out yesterday so not super confident in the picks today. Wanted to try to work through it though.
Washington McMichael +260
Dallas Marchment +300
Considered Hintz +220. Went back and forth.
Florida Reinhart +160
Edmonton McDavid +145
As far as games go I’m taking a flyer on Florida +110. The line only being this low feels a little suspicious to me. Edmonton still heavily reliant on Draisaitl and McDavid and it drops off after. Florida still has decent depth which I think could be an advantage for them if they can shut down those two. Might be a difficult environment for them and Edmonton seems really focused smacking these top teams that they’ve played the last three games. So I don’t feel great about this either.