Decent 7 game slate in the NHL this Wednesday, the 10th of January. We take a look at some of the key games of the day including the Fox Sports televised Canucks at Capitals and give our betting tips below.
Vancouver Canucks at Washington Capitals (11.00am AEDT Fox Sports 505HD)
The Canucks continue their trip out East to take on a Washington team who have won the last four and are 7-1-2 in their past ten games.
Vancouver have dropped their last four games including a shootout lose to Toronto and now find themselves falling further down the Western Conference standings. The Canucks were having a relatively decent season until Bo Horvat went down with an injury, now they find themselves with the fourth worst record in the NHL and have lost 10 of the past 14 games. If Vancouver are looking for any form of momentum coming into this game they may want to look at the tape from their last visit to Washington, winning that battle 6-2.
The Capitals are now leading the Metropolitan Division and are looking for their fifth straight victory. The Capitals have won four out of five over the Canucks but won't be thinking that this is a walkover by any chance, with the loss to the Canucks earlier in the season. The Capitals continue to fight back in games with the comeback victory over Carolina and St Louis last week. Washington are one of the best teams on home ice this season and haven't lost at home since the Kings were in town on Nov 30th. Kuznetsov, Backstrom and Ovechkin have been strong as of late and may be too much for the young Canuck team.
TIP: Washington Capitals H2H - $1.41 at Sportsbet
Chicago Blackhawks at Ottawa Senators (11.30am AEDT)
Chicago are coming off a 4-1 win over Edmonton on Monday and are trying to find some momentum to crawl up the standings as they are last in the Central Division. It will be interesting in the coming weeks to see how the Blackhawks hold up without goalie Corey Crawford who is on the sidelines with a upper body injury and also forward Artem Anisimov who is out as well. Goalie Jeff Glass is expected to suit up in this one, he gave up five goals against Vegas in his last outing but wasn't that bad with Vegas loading up 45 shots on him. Chicago still have one of the best forward lines in the league but are struggling to get it done on the power play. You start to wonder why they are ranked 29th in the league for power play percentage?
Ottawa are fighting hard to find some consistency to earn a spot in the postseason. The Senators have scored 12 goals in the past two victories over the Sharks and Tampa Bay as they played back to back games. Ottawa may be short handed with injuries to key players after the Tampa Bay victory. Matt Duchene who has three goals in two games is likely to miss alongside Derick Brassard and defenseman Johnny Oduya. Ottawa are 9-7-5 at home this season and will start goalie Chris Anderson in this one. With the Sens enjoying a small run at the moment and a more experienced goalie in place that might just get their third straight win.
TIP: Ottawa Senators H2H - $1.92 at Ladbrokes
Edmonton Oilers at Nashville Predators (12.00 pm AEDT)
The Oilers haven't enjoyed a win over the Predators since the 2014 season and have lost ten straight. With the Oilers dropping the last two and now ranked sixth in the Pacific Division, you would say it's not the best time to break the drought. The Oilers give up 3.26 goals per game and are ranked 31st in the league for penalty kill, this is a scary stat coming into Nashville.
The Predators are solid at home with a 12-4-2 record but haven't been convincing over their previous ten games with a 4-4-2 record. Nashville are known as one of the tougher teams in the league but tend to go too hard as they are ranked 31st in the league for penalty minutes, giving up over 13 minutes per game. If the Predators have any issues that is certainly one and will have to cut this down come playoff time. Hard to go against Nashville at home in this one.
TIP: Nashville Predators H2H - $1.59 at Sportsbet
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