{"id":61317,"date":"2019-11-12T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=61317"},"modified":"2019-11-12T07:27:58","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T12:27:58","slug":"nhl-predictions-november-12th-early-games-including-florida-panthers-vs-boston-bruins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/11\/12\/nhl-predictions-november-12th-early-games-including-florida-panthers-vs-boston-bruins\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: November 12th Early Games – Including Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to NHL Predictions<\/a>, brought to you daily by the Last Word on Hockey squad. Each article (or two) provides a prediction and detailed analysis of every game on the schedule that night. Every piece also features a game that is a must-watch event; tonight, it’s the Florida Panthers<\/a> visiting the Boston Bruins<\/a>. Due to the high volume of games, this article only features the early-start games for tonight. You can find our predictions for the later games right here.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

Florida Panthers at Boston Bruins<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Panthers 0-0 Bruins<\/h4>\n

Florida is a team on the rise and attempts to win a game in a very tough TD Garden. New acquisition\u00a0Brian Boyle<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has worked out quite well with five points in his first nine games with the team. Their top unit of\u00a0Jonathan Huberdeau<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Aleksander Barkov<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Evgenii Dadonov<\/a><\/strong> is rolling as well, as they all have at least 16 points on the year. Goaltending has been the only thing holding this team back, as\u00a0Sergei Bobrovsky<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has struggled to get settled into his new South Florida habitat. However, they should still pose a tough challenge for the Bruins tonight.<\/p>\n

Boston has hit a bit of a hiccup after a very strong start, coming off a tough loss on the road to the Detroit Red Wings<\/a> and a shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers<\/a>. This could be in part due to the host of injuries that have recently seen Jake DeBrusk<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>added to them. He’s a huge part of their secondary scoring that has been entirely lacking this season. Their goaltending is the opposite story of Florida’s, as whoever’s in net has been fabulous for the majority of the season. A strong performance in front of a home crowd should help them dig out the win.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Boston wins 3-1.<\/p>\n

Columbus Blue Jackets at Montreal Canadiens<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Blue Jackets 0-0 Canadiens<\/h4>\n

The Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> are a team in turmoil and an unpopular pick in NHL predictions. Coach John Tortorella\u00a0<\/strong>has become frustrated with the negative emotion shown by goalie\u00a0Joonas Korpisalo<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>during games, so\u00a0Elvis Merzlikins<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>gets the start tonight after being called up from Cleveland (AHL). The offence has been an issue, as\u00a0Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Gustav Nyquist<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>are tied for the team lead with only 11 points. Despite his antics, Korpisalo is performing quite admirably in a tough situation as Columbus’ starter, and Tortorella’s frustration with him may cost Columbus a win tonight as Merzlikins has not shown capability at all.<\/p>\n

The Montreal Canadiens<\/a> are a team “in the mix,” as former defender\u00a0P.K. Subban<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>would say. They’ve gone 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and sit at third in the Atlantic Division. They’ve carried a good power-play (21.43 percent), but the penalty kill (72.22) has been sub-optimal at times. Defenceman Shea Weber<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is looking like his old self, coming off a two-goal game against the Los Angeles Kings<\/a>.\u00a0Carey Price<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is dependable as always, holding them in games. Montreal isn’t anything special, but certainly solid enough to throw off the Blue Jackets at home.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Montreal wins 3-1.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Penguins 0-0 Rangers<\/h4>\n

The Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> ride into Madison Square Garden with\u00a0Sidney Crosby<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Patric Hornqvist<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Kris Letang<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>all unavailable due to injury. In other words, what else is new? Pittsburgh has yet to have a full, healthy roster since opening night, and are still 10-6-1, good enough for the first wild card spot. Goalie\u00a0Matt Murray<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has been the team’s MVP, and Crosby has been as good as ever. Now, in his absence, others will have to step up. While a tall task to replace his offence, the Rangers are a good team to experiment and juggle lines against. Expect Pittsburgh to narrowly, but surely win tonight.<\/p>\n

The New York Rangers<\/a> now sit over .500 after a very rough start, but analytics suggests that this is just a hot streak. While Artemi Panarin<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has been everything they could have hoped for, young pivots like\u00a0Lias Andersson<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Brett Howden<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Kaapo Kakko<\/a> <\/strong>have been among the team’s worst players.\u00a0Ryan Strome<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has benefitted greatly from playing alongside Panarin in\u00a0Mika Zibanejad<\/a><\/strong>‘s absence with 16 points in 15 games, but still carries an abysmal 40.9 Corsi For percent. Goalies\u00a0Henrik Lundqvist<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Alexandar Georgiev<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>have been the team’s bright spots, but the Penguins’ deep offence will give them issues tonight.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Pittsburgh wins 4-3 in overtime.<\/p>\n

Arizona Coyotes at St. Louis Blues<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Coyotes 0-0 Blues<\/h4>\n

The Arizona Coyotes<\/a> haven’t changed their style of play at all from last year, something that has benefitted goalies\u00a0Darcy Kuemper<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Antti Raanta<\/a><\/strong>. However, their offence has struggled mightily at points and they’ve hit a rough patch as of late. A healthy Nick Schmaltz<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has been a godsend with 15 points in 17 games, making up from a concerning lack of production from players like\u00a0Derek Stepan<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Christian Fischer<\/a><\/strong>. They’ve maintained strong defensive play despite the long-term loss of\u00a0Niklas Hjalmarsson<\/a><\/strong>, but their scoring issues have limited them lately and will again tonight against the Blues.<\/p>\n

Despite missing star\u00a0Vladimir Tarasenko<\/a><\/strong>, the St. Louis Blues<\/a> are 9-1-0 in their past 10 games. Jordan Binnington<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has shown he’s the real deal with a .922 save percentage.\u00a0David Perron<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has picked up the offensive slack with 18 points in 18 games. Coach\u00a0Craig Berube<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>has them playing a solid structure once again, and expect them to pounce on a stingy Arizona team tonight and grab themselves another ‘W’.<\/p>\n

Prediction: St. Louis wins 3-1.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>