NHL Hockey Betting for October 27, 2016
Nine games are scheduled for Thursday in the NHL with two currently ‘off the board’. Buffalo/Minnesota is off the board due to the tenuous status of the Sabres’ goalie assignment. Anders Nilsson is likely to get a second consecutive start with starter Robin Lehner listed as ‘questionable’ due to illness. Out West, the Los Angeles Kings/Nashville Predators game is ‘off the board’. The Predators are just about recovered from their nasty bout with food poisoning courtesy of their hotel in Detroit. Pekka Rinne is expected to start on Wednesday against Anaheim though several players remain ‘questionable’. Typically, the Predators would go with backup Marek Mazanec in the second of back to back games though no word on their goalie assignment. The Kings could be without starter Jonathan Quick for several months and will be without backup Jeff Zatkoff for a week or so. They’ve signed Anders Lindback to a pro tryout and sent him to the AHL. They’re continuing to search for a fill in starter for Quick but Peter Budaj will be the likely starter here.
NHL HOCKEY BETTING FOR OCTOBER 27, 2016:
NEW YORK ISLANDERS AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS:
The Islanders are coming off a hard fought loss at home against the surging Montreal Canadiens. The game was tied late in the third when Shea Weber scored the game winner on the power play with three minutes left. No confirmation on either goaltending assignment as of yet with Jaroslav Halak and Marc-Andre Fleury penciled in as the tentative starters. Fleury has been inconsistent this season and there has been speculation that he’ll be headed out of town once Matt Murray returns from injury. For now, however, the team says they want to see how things play out with both goalies.
Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby back in the lineup and that’s likely why the price on this game is so high. The Penguins have done enough to hold down first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-2-1 record (pending the outcome of Wednesday night action) but although the Islanders are in sixth place they’re just 3 points back. The division remains very tightly packed. Islanders are not an ‘easy out’ with only one loss by more than 1 goal this season. Pittsburgh took 3 of 4 from New York last year (Islanders won 2-1 in Brooklyn on 3/8/16) but this has been a very hard fought series in recent years. Islanders have won 5 of the last 9 meetings overall with the Penguins holding a narrow 3-2 edge at home. All of the Penguins wins this year have come by just one goal including a shootout victory. We’ll take a shot on an Islanders team that seems to play everyone tough win or lose.
BET NEW YORK ISLANDERS +155 OVER PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
FLORIDA PANTHERS AT TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS:
Toronto coming off their worst game of the season as they were embarrassed by Tampa Bay at the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday losing 7-3. They’ve only got one win this year but they’ve played tough on most nights with only one loss (the debacle against Tampa) by more than a single goal. Panthers have lost 3 of 4 and have had trouble putting the puck in the net. Every reason to think that Toronto comes out with fire in their eyes after the fiasco against the Panthers and Florida is a ‘beatable’ team.
BET TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS +105 OVER FLORIDA PANTHERS