Welcome back to another day of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head and other factors that may play in. We also have a featured game of the day, which is considered must-watch TV. Today’s featured game is the Los Angeles Kings vs Edmonton Oilers. Be sure to check out our other NHL predictions for the day.
NHL Predictions
Carolina Hurricanes vs Detroit Red Wings
Head-to-Head: Hurricanes 1-0 Red Wings
This is the opening game of NHL predicitons. With Carolina’s recent skid, including losses to New York, Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto, and New Jersey in their last ten (alongside a 4-5-1 stretch across all games), the security of the Metropolitan Division’s top spot has significantly decreased. Still, they remain three points ahead of second-place New Jersey (which is contingent upon the Rangers’ matchup against the Devils tonight) with a game in hand, facing an opponent they should defeat in the Detroit Red Wings. Carolina’s lone major frustration this season has lied in the finishing; despite a league-best 190.09 expected goals on the season(MoneyPuck), their total goals mark of 157 ranks 18th league-wide.
Detroit, on a similar but more expectedly poor stretch of 10 games, has now long been out of the playoff race since briefly entering a wild-card spot earlier this month. Despite this poor stretch, the Wings have delivered in certain regards, especially in Tuesday’s absurd 7-4 win against the Penguins, keeping the Penguins from maintaining their wild card spot with more strength. Dylan Larkin has continued a solid, near-point-per-game season, with six points in his last five and 71 points in 72 total games. Larkin’s career high of 73 was in 76 games, marking this season as Larkin’s best chance to achieve a point-per-game season in his career.
While both of these teams come into the game with opposite momentum, the pragmatic approach prevails; the better team should make work of a Red Wings team set to miss the postseason.
Prediction: 4-1 Hurricanes
St. Louis Blues vs Chicago Blackhawks
Head-to-Head: Blues 2-1 Blackhawks
A game once bearing massive implications, the Blues and Blackhawks rivalry has been suffocated by the poor form the two teams have carried throughout the season. With both teams in the race for Connor Bedard (albeit, Chicago is much closer than St. Louis), there are not a lot of stories present. Despite the frustration this season has developed into for the Blues, a very recent bright spot has lightened up in the trade of recent acquisitions. Sammy Blais, who came in the Vladimir Tarasenko trade with New York, has eight points in his last five, and 17 in 23 since coming to St. Louis (for reference, he had just five assists in 40 games, without scoring once). After a tumultuous season in Pittsburgh, Kasperi Kapanen has doubled his goal total with the Blues in a third of the games he played with Pittsburgh.
A small, underrated bright spot has been the play of prospect and rookie Lukas Reichel, who is half-a-point-per-game in his first 18 games of the season. Taylor Raddysh is also Chicago’s only 20-goal scorer with that exact total on the season. For the Blackhawks, every dropped point brings them closer to Connor Bedard. Currently, Columbus holds the top odds by a single point, with 53 points to Chicago’s 54 and San Jose’s 55.
Prediction: 5-3 Blues
Los Angeles Kings vs Edmonton Oilers
Head-to-Head: Kings 2-0 Oilers
Tonight’s featured game of NHL predictions sees the Kings and Oilers facing off for the third time this season. Both teams enter the night on particularly strong stretches of play; Los Angeles is 7-1-2 in their last ten, while the Oilers are 8-1-1. As of today, this game would be a game three matchup for a playoff series between these two teams, with the Kings and Oilers in second and third place in the Pacific Division respectively. Edmonton with a win tonight would pass the Kings and potentially lie just a point back of the Pacific lead, while the Kings would tie the Pacific lead (these are both contingent on the result of the Golden Knights and Sharks matchup).
A feature of the Kings team this season has been the high work rate the defence has driven play with in every zone, boosting the play of the Kings in transition among a wider depth of their team, compared to the Oilers who are primarily an in-zone team save their high-end talent. Play through the neutral zones could define this game on both offensive and defensive fronts. Interestingly, this game pits the top two power plays in the NHL; albeit, with a 7.2 percent difference, best illustrating the absurdity of Edmonton’s powerplay this season. In regards to strong power-play performances, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins looks for 100 points for the first time in his career, with the powerplay his strong suit; for reference, 62.5 percent of Nugent-Hopkins’ points have been collected on the power play.
In what could be a game with legitimate playoff octane, and even a direct preview of a Pacific playoff showdown, this game will likely deliver to the fullest extent. A close contest is to be expected, but we have the stability of the Kings prevailing.
Prediction: 5-4 Kings
Anaheim Ducks vs Seattle Kraken
Head-to-Head: Ducks 1-2 Kraken
Currently, Seattle maintains a top spot in the Western Conference wild-card seeding, resting three points ahead of Winnipeg with two games in hand, but seven points behind Edmonton with nine games remaining on their schedule. For a team clear of the postseason last season, the Kraken has continued to impress as one of the NHL’s top offensive sides destined for the postseason this season. Namely, a breakout season for Vince Dunn activating the d-core alongside a deep top six with the likes of Matthew Beniers and Jared McCann and a surprisingly deep bottom six group with the likes of Eeli Tolvanen and Daniel Sprong.
Anaheim, on the other hand, has had a truly disastrous season (albeit, somewhat to expectations). At this juncture of the season, Anaheim is set to plummet to incredibly high odds for the number one overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft, currently sitting at 29th place in the league (and 10 points behind 28th). Despite a near franchise-worst season, bright spots such as Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry (each expected to reach the 60-point mark) have kept the fanbase through miserable times while awaiting their next star from the draft.
Prediction: 4-1 Kraken
Vegas Golden Knights vs San Jose Sharks
Head-to-Head: Golden Knights 2-1 Sharks
This is our final game of this round of NHL predictions. Both teams come into the game off of unexpected performances. While the Oilers utterly dominated the Golden Knights, San Jose defeated the Jets and pulled the Western Conference wild-card race much closer together. Currently, Vegas leads the Pacific Division, while the Sharks currently hold the third-best odds for the number one overall pick in the NHL entry draft. With a win tonight, the Golden Knights will clinch a postseason position, rebounding from last season’s narrow miss.
An exciting storyline presented in tonight’s game lies in Sharks rookie defender Henry Thrun, who is expected to make his NHL debut tonight after three seasons with Harvard University. David Quinn had remarked on Monday that Thrun would draw in either against the Winnipeg Jets or Golden Knights tonight; he did not suit up against Winnipeg. Thrun lines up aside Radek Simek on the Sharks’ third defensive pairing tonight, per Daily Faceoff.
Vegas should (and we predict that they will) sweep away a team they truthfully should.
Prediction: 5-1 Golden Knights
Main photo by: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports
