Welcome to NHL Predictions! Each day, Last Word On Hockey will break down every game and give our NHL predictions for each game. Today we’ll cover the two games happening on November 17th. This will include a featured game that should be must-watch hockey. The featured game today is the Calgary Flames vs Vegas Golden Knights.
NHL Predictions
Chicago Blackhawks vs Buffalo Sabres
Head-to-Head: Blackhawks 0 – 0 Sabres
Sunday’s matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres will be a true spectacle. It features two ends of the extreme. The Sabres started the year in monstrous fashion, setting a 9-2-2 record during the month of October. This placed them among the top in the league, a title that the city of Buffalo took immense pride in.
Now that ‘Spooky Season’ has come and gone, fans can relax with the notion that the Sabres are coming back down to Earth. After a very promising start to the year, they have crashed emphatically during the month of November. They’ve lost all five of their games so far this month, being outscored 20-10 in the process. The Fates have yet again crushed the spirits of Buffalo citizens, as the team’s clearly hit a brick wall.
Star youngster Rasmus Dahlin has embodied this crash. He scored an impressive seven points in the first four games of the season, leading fans to think he was set to build off of his strong rookie season. Since those first four games, though, Dahlin has only tallied five points. On top of being entirely lackluster in his own end, the Sabres made the choice to bench Dahlin in Saturday’s game, something fans never expected to see.
The Blackhawks, on the other hand, are truly turning around their terrible start. After starting the year with a 3-6-3 record, they’ve managed a promising 5-2 record in their last seven games. This includes a dramatic 7-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday. While there are still issues in Chicago, they’re clearly starting to turn it around. They should have no trouble continuing this turn-around in Sunday’s matchup against a beat-up and beat-down Sabres team.
Prediction: Blackhawks win 4-1.
Calgary Flames vs Vegas Golden Knights
Head-to-Head: Flames 0 – 1 Golden Knights
The Golden Knights have only won one game in November, setting a measly record of 1-4-2. They’ve lost to bottom-feeding teams like the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings over this stretch, terrible accolades for a Vegas team that was supposed to be a Stanley Cup favourite this year. They now rank 22nd in the league with a 9-9-3 record.
The Flames have won one more game than Vegas, although they’ve appeared in one more as well. Their roster has struggled to look the same as their 2018-19 counterparts but has managed to find moderate success. This is largely thanks to their offensive-star-power. Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, and Johnny Gaudreau have all been tremendous scoring threats for Calgary. Against a Vegas team that simply can’t find their groove, these Flames scoring threats will surely dominate.
Prediction: Flames win 5-3.
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