The Boston Bruins have dropped two in a row but still lead the Atlantic Division by nine points, as they have still won eight of their last ten, while no one else in the division has won more than six games in that stretch. The Detroit Red Wings continue their free fall, now in an 11-game skid. The Washington Capitals have matched the Bruins with eight wins in ten games, and they also lead their division (the Metropolitan) by nine points. In the Western Conference, St. Louis has cooled off but still leads the Central Division by two points over Colorado (although the Avalanche have two games in hand). Colorado has reeled off six wins in a row and has posted a +28 goal differential on the season that is twice as large as that of any other team in the conference. Edmonton and Arizona are tied atop the Pacific Division; to show you how inconsistent that division is, though, the top six teams have all split their last ten games. If NHL betting is on your list for the coming week, don’t miss our top picks.
Top NHL Betting Picks of the Week – December 2nd Edition
The Capitals have been nearly unbeatable on the road, pushing them to the top of @mfinewaxhockey's NHL Power Rankings.
— Rotoworld (@rotoworld) December 9, 2019
Full rankings: https://t.co/EO2AU3j4XS pic.twitter.com/DDAk1dMZJP
Tuesday, December 10th
St. Louis at Buffalo (7:30 pm ET, NBC Sports)
The St. Louis Blues had a nice four-game winning streak going until they went to Pittsburgh back on Wednesday and were dealt a 3-0 loss. They came home to face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and fell, 5-2. In that loss, center Auston Matthews ended a lengthy slump with a pair of goals for the Leafs. David Perron and Ivan Barbashev scored for the Blues. Jordan Binnington surrendered four goals in 11 shots in the first ten minutes of the first period, and he was pulled from the game. Blues fans hope that the sloppy play in the last two games is not a sign of a more extended slump.
Buffalo has split their last six games and went 1-2 on a Western Canada road swing over the weekend, losing in Calgary on Thursday and Vancouver on Saturday before righting the ship with a 3-2 victory in Edmonton on Sunday. In that game, Colin Miller scored 1:13 into overtime to deliver the win. Kyle Okposo and Johan Larsson scored the regulation tallies, and Linus Ullmark posted 26 saves. The Sabres had led 2-0 in the first period before seeing the Oilers come back, so the overtime result gave Buffalo some encouragement as they wound their trip up. Given that win, and given the issues the Blues have had the last two games, I see Buffalo pulling this out at home.
NHL Betting Prediction: Buffalo 3, St. Louis 2
N.Y. Rangers at Los Angeles (10:30 pm ET)
The Rangers have alternated solid games with substandard efforts in their last six games. Examples of the good kind include a 4-0 rout of New Jersey on November 30 and a 5-0 tattooing of the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday. Examples of the other sorts of games include a 4-1 home loss to that same Vegas team last Monday and a home loss to Montreal on Friday. In that stomping of Vegas on Sunday, Alexandar Georgiev stopped 38 shots for his second career shutout in the NHL. Five different Rangers scored, and the Golden Knights suffered their first shutout since February 18, 2019.
Now the Rangers head to Los Angeles to face the Kings, losers of four straight to Anaheim, Washington, Edmonton and Calgary. Those last two losses came in one-goal fashion on a brief road swing up to Canada. In the loss to Calgary on Saturday, Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar each posted a goal and an assist, and Matt Roy got the third goal. However, Los Angeles is 0-10-1 this season on the road. Jack Campbell had 26 saves, but the fact that the Kings jumped out to a 2-0 lead before coughing up that lead and losing shows that defense is still an issue.
NHL Betting Prediction: New York 4, Los Angeles 2
